The Bugle 19-Apr
Kate Dezarnaulds doesn’t see herself as a teal candidate for Gilmore but she’s flattered by the comparison.
The Community Independent candidate is positioning herself as a viable alternative to Labor incumbent Fiona Phillips and the Liberal Party’s Andrew Constance in the race to win the closely contested seat at the May 3 federal election.
Phillips won by just 373 votes from Constance to claim the narrowest margin of victory in the 2022 election.
There were seven teal independents who won seats in WA, Victoria and NSW at the last election and they could have a major say in whether Anthony Albanese retains government or Peter Dutton springs an upset for the Coalition.
Dezarnaulds’ camp claims pre-polling research puts her primary vote at around 13% in Gilmore and if they can get that above 20% they could be in with a chance of carrying that momentum into the election to win the seat on preferences.
“We are yellow rather than teal - there's a reason we've chosen yellow for our brand for the campaign,” she said with a laugh.
“But I'm not at all offended by the comparison with the female independents who have really accelerated action on climate change and advanced the case for integrity and politics and transformed the gender make-up of our parliament.