A business leader turned Independent MP, Allegra Spender is bringing fresh thinking to politics and a strong voice to women, climate action and economic reform.
In the lead up to the imminent and yet-to-be announced federal election, Spender joins us on the Women’s Agenda podcast to talk about leadership, progress and the future she’s working to shape, as well as which party she hopes to shape it with.
When it comes to what the election will bring, and whether it will bring a hung parliament, Spender says there’s a lot of fear mongering going around.
Nevertheless, she reassures people that “if you’ve got [politicians] in the centre, who are part of minority government, who are actually trying to keep [Australian politics] in the centre, then this is an opportunity to better reflect the country”.
“I want decisions that drive outcomes that are important to us. I want to make decisions based on the evidence, based on what the community thinks is important, and based on those considered conversations with stakeholders,” she says.
“If you’ve got people in the centre, we have a chance of doing better on the long-term issues.”
Spender also notes that a minority government offers an opportunity to drive action on difficult issues that haven’t yet been addressed– namely climate change.
Another piece to the puzzle is how a minority government affects long-term economic reform, and Spender says some long overlooked issues could be better addressed, particularly for young workers struggling to obtain housing and get ahead.
“[There’s] opportunity for the crossbench this time, to give people the courage to deal with the tough stuff, rather than the sort of small target approach that I think both the major parties have taken into the last election and seem to be taking into this one,” says Spender.
If the election does lead to a minority government, Spender says she’s ready to work with the major parties to achieve much-needed action on climate and economic reform.
“I come from business and I’m pretty pragmatic- I will work with anyone across the parliament on outcomes, and I’ve done that this term already,” she says, noting that she has already worked with Labor on housing and climate, as well as with the Coalition on issues relating to industrial action to improve protections for small businesses.
In parliament and on the campaign trail, Spender has also spoken loudly about the intergenerational wealth gap and how this is affecting young people in Australia, with a potential solution being to look at different options within tax reform to better support them.
“The problem with our tax system is that we’re particularly more reliant on young workers in this country than many other countries around the world,” she says, adding that this is a real problem for both men and women.
“[This] reliance increases over time because of something called bracket creep, which is basically as your wage goes up- even if you’re just keeping pace with inflation- the proportion of tax that you pay is going up.”
“It’s really important that young people can still create a good life for themselves, even if they don’t have the bank of mum and dad backing them,” she says, adding that this is something the major parties talk a lot about without much discussion surrounding tax reform and real action.
When it comes to tax reform, Spender says she’s “playing the long game” as she understands the issue is becoming increasingly urgent.
Overall, Spender has seen a real desire from Australians to want to deal with the bigger political issues “that have been off the table for too long”, especially during this period in time where the world is witnessing a pushback on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Amid the many US headlines and Trumpian news, Spender says: “This is the moment to come back to Australian values.”
“Australia is a country which has been proud that we are making progress on things like reducing the gender pay gap.”
“I don’t care what your faith is, your gender is, your sexuality, your religion- you’re welcome here, you’ll be judged on your merits, and we’ll try and create an environment and a workplace that is welcome to all.”
Back in 2022, we saw women Independents thriving in politics, and Spender says its important that parliament doesn’t move backwards this election.
“The conversations that are being had now in Parliament, because women are in the room, are quite different,” she says, giving the example of a recent menopause discussion where women were able to speak up on women’s health issues.
“It’s been a big driver of some of the recent policy announcements that have been better supporting women,” she says.
“I think women will get behind women, and that’s because there are a lot of competent women running in Parliament.”
“That’s what people will judge people on- does this person look like they have got the guts, the skills, the competence to do the job, and I believe people will stand up for that.”