Teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have launched a new political party called Community Strong Australia, with the stated aim of providing a centrist alternative for voters amid the rise of One Nation and turmoil inside the Coalition.The party will focus on issues including housing affordability, cost of living, climate change, childcare, education, healthcare and social cohesion, according to Steggall, the member for Warringah.She and Spender have distanced the new party from the Climate 200 movement and its major donors, including Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brooks, stating on Thursday they would not be involved.The pair denied the move was a bid to skirt new political electoral laws – including spending and donation caps – which disadvantaged smaller players.Community Strong Australia, which carries teal-coloured branding, would “support community-backed candidates” for election in both the House of Representatives and Senate, Steggall said when announcing the long-rumoured party.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email“The community independent movement has shown what’s possible when people unite around shared values and practical solutions. Community Strong Australia is about extending that opportunity to more Australians,” she said.Steggall and Spender unveiled the party on Thursday after weeks of speculation and secret talks about the future of the independents movement. Despite a wave of so-called teal MPs being elected to parliament in recent elections, at this stage only the Sydney MPs Steggall and Spender have declared their plan to join the party.Fellow crossbencher Nicolette Boele said she was considering her options.Steggall said the party would extend the “community independent” model to more Australians and more communities across the country.“Australia is at a turning point, and people are worried about what the future holds. Community Strong Australia offers unity over division and reason over rage,” she said.“At a time when others are promoting conflict and hate, I feel a strong sense of responsibility to provide a real political alternative and promote a positive narrative about what Australia is and what we can achieve together.”The party would not have a formal leader, but Steggall said if it grew, it could name policy spokespeople. Members, however, would retain a free vote in parliament, and Steggall indicated that while members would have to agree with “core values” on issues such as climate change, they would not be bound by a party-room position.The independents started discussing the prospect of forming a party after Labor and the Coalition last year teamed up to pass new political electoral laws.The talks have intensified over the past six months as the rise of One Nation forced MPs to consider the best approach to remain relevant in a shifting political landscape.Asked on Thursday whether the move was about the spending and donation caps, Spender said it wasn’t.“People have been approaching me since the election … saying ‘we need something different here, we are concerned about the extremists in our country, and we want to make a difference in this country, but we need you guys to come together’.“I was overwhelmed by people from around the country saying ‘please do this because we need an alternate political force. I don’t feel represented. I don’t know where to go’.”Steggall last week briefed teal MPs and prominent members of the independents movement about the case for banding together. The Warringah MP’s presentation included polling and an explanation of the benefits of operating in a party structure, according to sources briefed on the project.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionA formal party structure has logistical benefits, allowing MPs to share staff and other resources and allocate portfolio responsibilities.But it risks undermining Steggall and Spender’s reputation as genuine community independents, which is the essence of their political brand.Steggall said the party had lodged an application with the Australian Electoral Commission to register as a political party and expected that to be finalised by October.She said in the coming months Community Strong Australia would “engage with communities across the country to help shape the party’s future direction and policy priorities”.In a separate statement, Nicolette Boele – the member for Bradfield – congratulated Steggall and Spender on the new party, saying she would remain independent but was “still working through what this party would allow me to do for the people I represent that I cannot already do as a community independent”.Boele did not rule out closer ties with the party and said she expected to work with the party “often” on policy issues.“Community Strong Australia represents the kind of brave, hopeful politics our country needs more of, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.”Steggall entered the federal parliament after defeating Tony Abbott at the 2019 election, while Spender was part of the so-called teal wave that swept through heartland Liberal seats in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth at the 2022 ballot.The project has divided the Climate 200-backed MPs, with Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney immediately ruling themselves out after reports emerged last month of the private talks.Other crossbenchers, including Helen Haines, Andrew Wilkie and Rebekha Sharkie, also won’t be part of the new political alliance.Earlier this week, the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, mocked the imminent announcement by claiming the teal MPs had long operated as a de facto political party.“They were launched years ago. They’ve been around for a long while,” he said.