Liberal Party of Australia

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This article concerns the modern Australian political party. For the Australian Liberal party active from 1909 to 1916, see Commonwealth Liberal Party.
Liberal Party of Australia
Leader John Howard
Founded 1944
Headquarters Cnr Blackall & Macquarie St
Barton ACT 2600
Political Ideology Liberal conservatism
International Affiliation International Democrat Union
Website Liberal Party of Australia
See also Politics of Australia

Political parties
Elections

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. Since its foundation in 1944 it has been the dominant party of the centre-right in Australia and competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office, both at the Federal level and in the Australian states and territories.

In federal politics, the Liberal Party has held power since winning government in 1996, and governs in its traditional coalition with the National Party. In state politics, however, the Liberals are in opposition in all Australian states and territories.

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[edit] Policies

The Liberal Party is generally an advocate of economic liberalism and support of free markets. However, during the Menzies era the party was quite interventionist in its economic policy and maintained Australia's high tariff levels. It should be noted that at this time, the Liberals' coalition partner, the Country Party had considerable influence over the Government's economic policies. Since the 1980s the party has moved further to the right economically.

Socially, the Liberal Party is a conservative party, although it has a minority socially liberal wing. In recent years, under John Howard, it has moved to a more conservative policy agenda. Notable has been its tough stance on unauthorised immigration (see Mandatory detention in Australia for more details). It has also strongly supported Australia's traditional alliances with the United States and the United Kingdom.

[edit] History

The Liberals' immediate predecessor was the United Australia Party, formed in 1931. The UAP, led by Robert Menzies, disintegrated after suffering a heavy defeat in the 1943 elections. More broadly, the party's ideological ancestry stretched back to the anti-Labor groupings in the first Commonwealth Parliaments. The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a fusion of the non-Labor parties in 1909 in response to Labor's growing electoral prominence. Menzies deliberately chose the name "Liberal" in reference to this, and in claiming inheritance from Alfred Deakin.

The Liberal Party was founded in December 1944, after Menzies called a conference in 1944 of Conservative parties and other groups opposed to the ruling Australian Labor Party. Its formal announcement was in February 1945. The Liberal Party absorbed several former conservative parties, principally the United Australia Party. The Australian Women's National League, a powerful conservative women's organisation, also merged with the new party. A conservative youth group Menzies had set up, the Young Nationalists, was also merged into the new party. It became the Liberal Party's youth division, the Young Liberals.

In 1949 Menzies led the Liberals to victory, and they stayed in office for a record 23 years. After the retirement of Menzies in 1966 and the death of his successor, Harold Holt, in 1967, the Liberals went into decline, and were defeated by Labor under Gough Whitlam in 1972. After the dismissal of 1975 they returned to office under the Government of Malcolm Fraser, and stayed in power for eight years. Losing government in 1983 to the ALP led by Bob Hawke, the Liberals lost five elections in a row under four different leaders before returning to power in 1996 under John Howard.

At the state level, the Liberals have been dominant for long periods in all states except Queensland, where they have always held fewer sears than the National Party (not to be confused with the old Nationalist Party). The Liberals were in power in Victoria from 1955 to 1982 and in South Australia (under several names) from 1932 to 1965. Since the 1980s, however, the Liberals have become increasingly unsuccessful in state elections. The Liberals have not won any state election since the 1997 South Australian state elecion and, since the 2002 South Australian state election all Australian state or territory governments have had Labor governments.

Throughout their history, the Liberals have been in electoral terms largely the party of the middle class (whom Menzies, in the era of the party's formation called "the forgotten people"), though such class-based voting patterns are no longer as clear as they once were. In the 1970s a left-wing middle class emerged that no longer voted Liberal. One effect of this was the success of a breakaway party, the Australian Democrats, founded in 1977 by former Liberal minister Don Chipp and members of minor liberal parties; other members of the left-leaning section of the middle-class became Labor supporters. On the other hand, the Liberals have done increasingly well among socially conservative working-class voters in recent years. In country areas they either compete or have a truce with the Nationals, depending on various factors.

Strong opposition to socialism and communism in Australia and internationally was one of the foundation principles of the Liberal Party. Anti-communism was successfully exploited through the 1950s and 1960s by Menzies and his political successors. Menzies went so far as to attempt to ban the Communist Party in 1951. Menzies was an ardent royalist, devoted to maintaining Australia as a constitutional monarchy. Today the party is divided on the monarchy, with some, such as Peter Costello and Malcolm Turnbull, being minimalist republicans while others, such as John Howard and Tony Abbott remain monarchists. The Liberals have also sought to portray themselves as the party most committed to the alliance with the United States.

Domestically, Menzies presided over a fairly regulated economy in which utilities were publicly owned, and commercial activity was highly regulated through centralised wage-fixing and high tariff protection. It was not until the late 1970s and through their period out of power federally in the 1980s that the party came to be influenced by what was known as the "New Right" - a Thatcher-inspired or neo-liberal group who advocated market deregulation, privatisation of public utilities, reductions in the size of government programs and tax cuts. This program has been largely implemented since the election of the Howard government in 1996, although certain reforms were preempted by the Hawke and Keating Labor governments of 1983-96.

Socially, while liberty and freedom of enterprise form the basis of its beliefs, elements of the party have wavered between what is termed "small-l liberalism" and social conservatism. John Howard, is often regarded in most respects as socially conservative. His most likely successor, Peter Costello, is in some respects more liberal. Some Liberal state governments have also been more liberal, particularly in Victoria and South Australia.

The Liberal Party's organisation is dominated by the six state divisions, reflecting the party's original commitment to a federalised system of government (a commitment which was strongly maintained by all Liberal governments until 1983, but has been to a large extent abandoned by the Howard government, which has shown strong centralising tendencies). Menzies deliberately created a weak national party machine and strong state divisions. Party policy is made almost entirely by the parliamentary parties, not by the party's rank-and-file members, although Liberal party members do have a degree of influence over party policy.

In the 2004 Federal elections the party strengthened its majority in the Lower House and, with its coalition partners, became the first federal government in twenty years to gain an absolute majority in the Senate. This permits their passing of legislation without the need to negotiate with independents or minor parties.

The Liberal Party does not officially contest most local government elections, although many members do run for office in local government as independents; the most notable current example being the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman.

[edit] Liberal Federal Leaders

See also: List of Liberal Party of Australia leaders by time served

[edit] Current Liberal State and Territory Parliamentary Leaders

[edit] New South Wales Liberal Premiers

[edit] Queensland Liberal Premiers

[edit] South Australian Liberal Premiers

[edit] Tasmanian Liberal Premiers

[edit] Victorian Liberal Premiers

[edit] Western Australian Liberal Premiers

[edit] Australian Capital Territory Liberal Chief Ministers

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Gerard Henderson, Menzies' Child: The Liberal Party of Australia 1944-1994, Allen and Unwin, 1994
  • Dean Jaensch, The Liberals, Allen and Unwin, 1994
  • John Nethercote (ed.), Liberalism and the Australian Federation, Federation Press, 2001
  • Marian Simms, A Liberal Nation: The Liberal Party and Australian Politics, Hale and Iremonger, 1982
  • Graeme Starr, The Liberal Party of Australia: A Documentary History, Drummond/Heinemann, 1980

[edit] External links

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Political parties in Australia

Country Liberal Party · Democrats · Family First · Greens · Labor Party · Liberal Party · National Party

[edit] References

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