Australian voters want choices beyond the old political binary of "blue team" and "red team", Senator Nick Xenophon said, promoting the woman he hopes can defeat former prime minister Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah.

With Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's political honeymoon recently interrupted by two ministerial resignations and Labor leader Bill Shorten's popularity languishing, Senator Xenophon on Sunday said voters "want an alternative".

"I think people want to go to the political centre. It's very much about grassroots community concerns, it's about health, it's about education, it's about the environment," he said at a press conference on Queenscliff beach in Sydney.

"The fact that Warringah hasn't had a woman representative since [the seat was established in] 1922, well I think the 51 per cent of voters who happen to be women will have something to say."