South West MLC Sophia Moermond cherishes chance to speak her mind as independent after quitting minor party

South West MLC Sophia Moermond has said she has found herself moving further to the right on a number of issues, as she welcomes more liberty to express her views as an independent. Ms Moermond used her new-found political freedom to speak openly at the rally against the proposed offshore wind farms held in Bunbury earlier this month. She was a guest speaker at the event along with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. “As a newly independent, which is quite exciting, I get to speak about whatever I want now,” she told the crowd. “And if there’s one thing I can say about myself is I’m definitely opinionated, so I’m quite suited to this.” During her speech, Ms Moermond covered a wide range of topics, outlining what she saw as defining issues for next year’s State election. The South West legislator also aired her grievances on a range of topics including the live sheep export ban, the possibility of eating insects and what she perceived as the threat of gender “ideology”. Speaking to the Bunbury Herald, Ms Moermond said despite her leaving the party, she would be continuing her push to legalise cannabis as well as other illicit drugs including LSD and MDMA. She noted her politics had historically been progressive, but some of her more recent views were more on the other side of the political spectrum. “I have always been more on the left side of politics, but I am finding myself with certain things more on the right side of politics at the moment,” she said. “I think overall I’ve ended up sitting somewhere in the middle.” Ms Moermond said one of the topics she had most notably found herself was gender ideology, something she defined as the “belief that biological sex isn’t real”. The first-term MLC announced her resignation from the Legalise Cannabis WA party in May after being preselected an unwinnable fifth on its ballot. She won her current seat with the party in 2021 off just 2.11 per cent of the first preference vote as a result of ballot harvesting among micro parties. With less than nine months until the election, Ms Moermond said she had her eyes set on throwing her hat in the ring as an independent.