‘The Big Teal’ exposes the pettiness of politics but not how the teals changed that

The 2022 election was momentous, with all seven independents bankrolled by Simon Holmes à Court’s Climate 200 elected, forming the strongest crossbench in the Australian Parliament’s history. 

But their trials and tribulations rate scarcely a mention in Holmes à Court’s new book, The Big Teal. Instead he talks of his upbringing, including having been bullied at Geelong Grammar for being — as one bully told him — “self-righteous”, fundraising, and the pettiness of politics at the hands of former treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the media abuse Holmes à Court received. 

But after being introduced in the first pages, the Climate 200-funded independents don’t come up again until the final chapters.