The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a minor Australian political party, affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International. Its leader is Nick Beams.
Unlike Australia's other electorally registered socialist party, the Socialist Alliance (which usually allocates election preferences to the Greens, ahead of the two major political parties), the SEP refuses to indicate support for any other party. At the 2007 Australian federal election to the House of Representatives, the SEP refused to allocate preferences to any other party. However, in order to secure an "above the line" status for its Senate candidates, it split preferences between Labor, the Liberals, and the Greens, to demonstrate their indifference towards all of the larger parties. [1]
The SEP espouses politically left-wing policies, notably opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation. The SEP attempted to stress its differences from the Socialist Alliance, claiming that its quest for a place in Australian politics "will not take place through radical-sounding sloganeering and other protest antics, like those of the Socialist Alliance and other middle-class protest organisations".[2]
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