Zali Steggall and the reinvention of grassroots conservatism

Reupping an interview from February 2019

Image via The Guardian

As the 2022 election approaches, and with the chance of a remaking of our political landscape, I thought it was worth republishing this February 2019 interview I did with Zali Steggall: for those paying attention at the time, it was obvious something major was afoot and that Louise Hislop, organiser of the Voices of Warringah, was an agent of change.

Some background

Late last year (that is, 2019) I was invited to talk about my latest book with a group of people in Manly. The invitation was issued by Louise Hislop who was in the early days of organising her grassroots' movement for the electorate of Warringah on Sydney's north shore. Their goal was to unseat long-time local member and former prime minister, Tony Abbott. Her organisation, Voices of Warringah, was modelled on Voices of Indi, the local group that came together in Victoria to unseat Liberal member, Sophie Mirabella.

Voices for Indi was a genuinely independent and citizen-led campaign to replace a local m…