Independent MPs launch new Australian centrist political party

Two independent Australian MPs have banded together to launch a new centrist political party which they say is a response to an increasingly divisive landscape. The Community Strong Australia party - launched in Canberra on Thursday - will offer "unity over division and reason over rage", will have no leader and will allow members to vote freely, rather than along party lines. Its two members - Sydney MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender - are from a group of independent MPs known as "teals" who share socially liberal values and want greater climate action. The party will offer an "alternate political force" to the current two-party system in Australia, the pair said. Australia's political landscape had traditionally been dominated by the two major parties - the centre-left Labor and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition, which leans conservative. Labor won a landslide victory at last year's federal election , securing a second term in power, while the Coalition suffered its worst defeat ever, followed by months of in-fighting. In recent months, right-wing party One Nation - led by Pauline Hanson - has seen a surge in support , including one poll that found she was the preferred prime minister. Asked if the recent rise in support for One Nation and its anti-immigration rhetoric had spurred their decision to form a new party, Steggall and Spender said they had been guided by what their voters were telling them. "We absolutely hear those grievances," Spender said. …