'Voices For' movement, which sparked the 'Teals', building in Wollongong

It's now growing in Wollongong, emboldened by last weekend's election results for non-partisan independents.

McGowan would retain the seat at the following election; after she retired Helen Haines won the seat in 2019, and again last week. But behind the sudden success was a long-building group called Voices for Indi, set up not to push McGowan but to choose a candidate in sync with the community.

Read more: Could the northern Illawarra go 'teal' next election?

Inspired by Indi, the Voices of Warringah group was set up when Tony Abbott wouldn't engage with residents on climate change. Warringah went on to elect independent Zali Steggall, humiliating the former prime minster and introducing a team campaign livery that was between blue (Liberal) and green - teal.

But well before the "teals" (and multiple other independents) changed the face of Australian politics last weekend, Thirroul photographer Jeremy Park was busy building a Voices for Wollongong push. Voices hosted two events during the recent campaign, a candidates forum and a sold-out talk with electrification guru Saul Griffith. The mailing list for the newsletter has grown to more than 300, Mr Park said.

He said the Voices groups in different electorates have no affiliation directly, but share a template of engagement.

"They all stand for similar values, which are around engaging the community back into politics, and having more direct representation rather than party headquarters deciding what's good for local communities," he said.

"It's all about participatory democracy and getting people to realise that they have a voice, and they don't have to just take what's given to them,

"Over the last nine years, people got to a point in this last election where they saw things get so dire that people really thought they needed to stand up and get involved, because they thought things weren't going to get better ... so that's what we've seen happen across Australia."

He said the Voices movement wasn't only to pick a candidate, but also to measure up candidates from other parties. If a party candidate fit with the community's values, they could get their support, Mr Park said.

While known as a rusted on Labor stronghold, Wollongong has an independent Lord Mayor today in Gordon Bradbery, a successful independent council team more than 20 years ago, and in 2002 Green Michael Organ defeated Labor's Sharon Bird for the seat of Cunningham.

From Indi to Warringah to Hughes, having an unpopular sitting member helps galvanise support around an independent, as does an unpopular party leader. Wollongong seats don't feature such an unpopular incumbent. But the minor party vote, particularly for the Greens in the northern suburbs, shows a lasting level of distaste for politics as usual.

"What we're seeing with independents across Australia, whether they rose from community groups like Voices, or whether they're people like Andrew Wilkie or Rex Patrick, that they get voted in again and again, because once they get voted in the community realises how much more they can do for them, and how much more say they're having on local and federal issues," Mr Park said.

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