Teal has been chosen as Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year, in a nod to the several independent candidates who were elected in historic victories at the federal election.
The Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year committee said it was hard to ignore the impact of these independents have had on Australia’s political landscape this year.
“Teal embodies the year that’s been, and truth-telling is the year that’s to come – let’s hope that’s the case. They’re both really important concepts, central to Australian culture and politics,” the committee said.
“It’s hard to go past teal as an emblem of Australia’s political landscape in 2022. It’s not a brand-new word, but it is a brand-new sense that no-one saw coming.”
The word ‘teal’ was coined by the media in relation to the independent candidates at the federal election who ran and won in traditionally blue-ribbon Liberal seats. These independents, all women, ran on similar platforms of climate action, integrity in politics and gender equality.
Several ‘teal’ independents – Dr Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel, Dr Sophie Scamps, Kylea Tink, Allegra Spender and Kate Chaney – followed in the footsteps of Zali Steggall, who first used the teal colour in her 2019 campaign.
The word ‘teal’ has become symbolic of these independents, who hold ‘moderate’ values that are traditionally aligned with the Liberal Party, but also advocate for greater action on the environment. Teal is somewhere in the middle of blue (the Liberal Party’s colour) and green.
According to the Macquarie Dictionary, the definition is as follows: Teal: Noun (also upper case) Politics A political candidate who holds generally ideologically moderate views, but who supports strong action regarding environmental and climate action policies, and the prioritising of integrity in politics (so called as many of the candidates use the colour teal in their electoral material).