The Getup Connection II

Part two of our investigation into the links between 'independent' Warringah candidate Zali Steggall and leftist political group GetUp. By Tim James.

“There are so many common resources, people, themes and language that confirm the Steggall campaign and GetUp are joined at the hip.” This statement in last week’s Watercooler got a few people fired up.  So it’s only fair that the statement be unpacked and some of the many connections between the Steggall campaign and GetUp be shared. 

After all, it is Zali Steggall who talks a lot about “honest politics” and has a policy to create a “Parliamentary Fact-Finding Office”.  Well, here are some facts. 

Following his unsuccessful run for Warringah in 2016, former Australian Idol host James Mathison said that without money and a “massive organisation behind you like GetUp... it's very hard to make a dent” on an election result.  His campaign manager in 2016 was Louise Hislop (who hosted and addressed the first meeting of the Australian Progressives in Warringah in 2015, at which she described Tony Abbott as “irrelevant”).

James Mathison was MC at the recent launch of Steggall's campaign. Hislop is now Steggall’s campaign manager whilst getting advice from GetUp as a member of its invitation-only app. Hislop earlier praised GetUp for helping her “education and self-improvement”, and attended the GetUp campaign launch in Warringah.

As mentioned last week, Steggall's other campaign manager is long-time Labor campaigner Anthony Reed. And to complete Steggall's left-wing connection, Bill Shorten was an inaugural director of GetUp. 

Activists with GetUp links set up groups such as the North Shore Environmental Stewards, who vetted Steggall’s candidacy.  One of the organisers of North Shore Environmental Stewards was GetUp Lead Organiser Ray Yoshida.  GetUp did not hide its efforts to co-ordinate with local anti-Abbott groups which culminated in the groups backing Steggall.  Locals from these groups have been attending GetUp meetings.

Within one day of Steggall announcing her candidacy for Warringah, Labor leader Bill Shorten spoke favourably of her, and said directing preferences to her was an option. At the same time, Steggall indicated she would accept support from GetUp. Two days later, GetUp announced it was “shooting for the moon” in Warringah and would conduct the biggest doorknocking campaign in Australian political history. 

Within a week, Steggall was giving interviews explaining that her main concerns were climate change, renewable energy, coal and the Adani project. These topics are straight out of the GetUp policy playbook.  She immediately called for Labor to do more to stop the Adani mine and more on climate emissions reductions, both areas where GetUp has sought to move the Labor position towards the Greens.​

One of the first groups to endorse Steggall was a group called Climate Leaders, which made her its first NSW “climate leader”. Steggall endorsed the group. Two of the three adult leaders at Climate Leaders have GetUp connections, and until recently it was also led by Django Merope Synge, a GetUp campaign director who recently led its Warringah campaign. Climate Leaders helped organise the recent “school strike for climate”, which Steggall supported. 

Asked by Sky News journalist David Speers whether his how-to-vote card would put Steggall ahead of Abbott, GetUp national director Paul Oosting said, “absolutely”.  Speers stated the obvious: “You say you’re not helping Zali Steggall even though you’re going to distribute a how-to-vote card that, as you just agreed, will put Zali Steggall ahead of Tony Abbott.” 

Soon after, it was revealed that GetUp’s doorknocking script in Warringah directly urges voters to support independents Steggall and Susan Moylan-Coombs (who, respectfully, doesn’t have a chance). That same script refers to Tony Abbott as a “useless, toxic, a dinosaur and a Neanderthal”.  Not quite the exercise in “treating everyone with respect” that Steggall espouses. 

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on February 9, two weeks into Steggall's campaign, that “GetUp has signed up hundreds of volunteers to doorknock across Warringah, man phone banks and hand out how-to-vote cards in support of Ms Steggall”.

Moylan-Coombs, the other independent candidate, shared the article on social media.  She also said she was a “true independent”, and reposted an image of Zali Steggall next to the GetUp logo.

It then became clear that Steggall shares the same campaign finance machinery as other candidates in Wentworth, Kooyong and Flinders who, like Steggall, have been endorsed by GetUp at one time or other. GetUp surprised some of its supporters when it backed Phelps instead of the Labor candidate in Wentworth. Before announcing her candidacy, Steggall sought counsel from Phelps. The pair still talk with each other frequently. 

Steggall’s campaign chairman is Australian Youth Climate Coalition governor Robert Purves, a former WWF Australia president. He has shared platforms with GetUp. There are good reasons why the AYCC (donations to which Purves’ fund matches dollar for dollar) has been called “Baby GetUp”. 

In mid-April “Stop Adani Mosman” and “Voices of Warringah” organised the so-called Warringah Climate Election Candidates Forum in Mosman. GetUp is known to be a key driver in the “Stop Adani Alliance”.  It was addressed by Labor, Greens and both independent candidates. GetUp's representatives were also present, wearing their distinctive orange T-shirts. Steggall has said this will be “a climate election”, which aligns with GetUp’s call to “make this a climate election”.

And so it goes on.  It’s a long list of common threads, people, themes, resources and more. GetUp and Steggall have denied having any connections. They are trying to say that all of the above is mere coincidence. Denying the obvious is a bad look under any circumstance, but is far worse during an election campaign.