Curtin’s Kate Chaney pledges to ‘negotiate’ if hung parliament, but won’t say if she’d back Albanese or Dutton

Kate Chaney has confirmed she would be open to “negotiation” if the May 3 election results in a hung Parliament, but refused to reveal whether she would back Peter Dutton or Anthony Albanese to be Prime Minister. “Anyone who has done a negotiation knows you can’t walk in announcing the outcome,” she said. “I’ve met with Peter Dutton and talked about what we have in common and how we can work together. I’ve met with the Prime Minister frequently and I would be willing to be pragmatic and work with both sides. “I would listen to what both sides had to offer on the long term issues.” During a debate on ABC radio on Thursday, the Climate200-backed teal independent Curtin MP first vowed to vote “independently” on each piece of legislation according to merit. Pressed on which party’s policies she prefers, Ms Chaney said she is “probably closer” to the Greens on environmental issues, but closer to Labor on housing. “It’s different on different issues,” she said. “On industrial relations I could choose the Liberal Party, on protecting our environment I’m probably closer to the Greens, on housing I think the Labor Party has actually done more than the Liberal Party is promising.” Liberal rival Tom White accused her of deceiving voters, by refusing to divulge who should would back to form minority government. “Imagine the chaos and instability we’ll see now, if we have a collection of people who, at this stage, refuse to tell us who they want to back at the next election,” he told host Gary Adshead. “(The teals) brand themselves as being transparent, but in reality they are not. This is critical.” Ms Chaney said she votes “according to the value of my electorate” but Mr White interjected that she has voted in line with the Greens 56 per cent of the time. “It depends on the substance,” Ms Chaney said. “Neither major party is tacking the big issues facing our country . . . Labor is playing it safe and the Liberals are moving down a worrying Trump-style, driving division with almost no policy.” She suggested independents holding the balance of power could give a minority Dutton government an “excuse” to “get out of this crazy nuclear promise”. “I’ve said to Peter Dutton that would be very difficult in my electorate,” Ms Chaney said. On Woodside’s $30 billion proposal for a 50-year extension of North-West shelf gas exports, Ms Chaney insisted the bar for environmental approval should be set higher. “I don’t think we yet have an appropriate legal framework to address it,” she said. “If we have a legal framework that actually fully costs the price of carbon and if the project still stacks up then, then it should go ahead.” Pressed on a previous social media post, describing the project as “terrible”, Ms Chaney doubled down. “It’s not a yes, no question. It’s not zero or 50 years,” she said. “We know we need gas in transition, that doesn’t mean we need to expand it for 50 years . . . I don’t think it should be approved for 50 years.” Curtin is a major battleground of the Federal election, with Ms Chaney defending a very slim 1.3 per cent margin in the western suburbs seat.