List of political parties in Australia

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Political parties in Australia lists political parties in Australia.

Australia has a strong two-party system. There are two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, and aspects of the Australian electoral system have made it difficult for other parties or independents to gain parliamentary representation. Nevertheless, the system of preferential voting used in Australian elections, combined with proportional representation for most Upper House elections, makes it easier for minor parties and independents to gain representation in Australia than in some other two-party systems of government, such as in the United States.

Contents 1 Significant political parties (and their federal leaders) 2 Current Parliamentary Representation of minor parties 2.1 Registered for elections with the AEC 2.2 Not Currently Registered with the AEC 3 Defunct parties 4 See also 5 Other parties on the Internet

[edit] Significant political parties (and their federal leaders)

• Australian Democrats: Senator Lyn Allison (Social liberalism)
• Australian Greens: Senator Bob Brown (Green politics)
• Australian Labor Party: Kevin Rudd MP (Social democracy)
• Country Liberal Party: no federal leader (Liberal conservatism)
• Family First Party: Senator Steve Fielding (Christian-influenced conservatism)
• Liberal Party of Australia: John Howard MP (Liberal conservatism)
• National Party of Australia (The Nationals): Mark Vaile MP (Rural-based Conservatism)

Two political groups dominate the Australian political spectrum.

One is a conservative group of parties that are presently in coalition at the federal level and in some states, but compete in others. The main party in this group is the Liberal Party, a centre-right neo-liberal group. It is joined by The Nationals, a party that represents rural interests - especially primary industry. The third member is the Country Liberal Party, which is the major representative of the conservative side of politics in the Northern Territory (the Liberal and National parties do not operate in the NT). Collectively, these parties are known as The Coalition.

The other is the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a centre-left party founded by the trade unions.

Historically, support for either the Coalition or the Labor Party was often viewed as being based around class, with the middle class supporting the Coalition and the working class supporting Labor. In more recent times, this has been a less important factor because the 1970s and 1980s saw Labor gain a significant bloc of middle class support and the Coalition gain a significant bloc of working class support.

There are 3 other parties which are of some significance in Australian political system. The Australian Greens are currently seen as the 'third force' in Australian politics. They are a left wing and environmentalist party, and generally achieve 7%-10% of votes in elections (although they achieve significantly higher votes in some States). The Australian Democrats, are a party of middle-class centrists, and from about c. 1977-2002, were the 3rd strongest party in Australia, in terms of votes and parliamentary representation. Since 2002, their influence has been steadily declining. The Family First Party, is a relatively recent party, with a Christian-influenced platform appealing mainly to social conservatives. They have achieved some success in recent elections. The proportional representation system has allowed these parties to win seats in the Senate, but they have generally been unable to win seats in the House of Representatives (the Greens won a House seat at a 2002 by-election, but lost it in 2004).

Political parties which have been of some significance in the past, in terms of shaping Australian politics, include the Democratic Labor Party, One Nation Party, Nuclear Disarmament Party and the Communist Party of Australia.

[edit] Current Parliamentary Representation of minor parties

This is a list of parliamentary representation of minor parties at Federal and State levels. It does not include Independents:

• Australian Greens: 19 [(Federal (4), NSW (4), Tasmania (4), Victoria (3), Western Australia (2), South Australia (1), ACT (1)]

• Australian Democrats: 5 [Federal (4), South Australia (1)]

• Family First Party: 3 [Federal (1), South Australia (2)]

• Christian Democratic Party : 2 [NSW (2)]

• Shooters Party: 2 [NSW (2)]

• One Nation Party: 1 [Queensland (1)]

• Democratic Labor Party: 1 [Victoria (1)]

[edit] Registered for elections with the AEC

• Australian Democrats: (Social liberalism)
• Australian Greens: (Green politics)
• Australian Labor Party: (Social democracy)
• Country Liberal Party: (Liberal conservatism)
• Family First Party: (Christian-influenced conservatism)
• Liberal Party of Australia: (Liberal conservatism)
• National Party of Australia (Rural-based Conservatism)
• Democratic Labor Party
• Liberal Democratic Party of Australia : (Classical liberalism)

For latest details see: http://aec.gov.au/_content/who/party_reg/registered/index.htm

[edit] Not Currently Registered with the AEC

• Advance Australia Party
• Australia First Party
• Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI)
• Christian Democratic Party of Australia
• Citizens Electoral Council
• Communist Party of Australia
• Country Alliance
• Ex-Service, Service and Veterans Party
• Fishing Party
• Four Wheel Drive Party
• Great Australians Party
• HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibitation)
• Hope Party
• Human Rights Party
• Liberals for Forests
• Libertarian Party
• Lower Excise Fuel and Beer Party
• National Action
• New Country Party
• No GST Party
• Non-Custodial Parents Party
• Nuclear Disarmament Party
• One Nation Party
• One Nation NSW (Oldfield group)
• Outdoor Recreation Party
• People Power Party
• Progressive Labour Party

• Save Our Suburbs
• Secular Party of Australia
• Shooters Party
• Socialist Alliance
• Socialist Equality Party
• Socialist Party
• Tasmania First Party
• Unity Party (Australia)
• Workers Liberty Australia
• Workers Power

[edit] Defunct parties

• Australia Party
• Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist)
• Australian Party
• Australian Progressive Alliance
• Centre-Line Party
• City Country Alliance
• Commonwealth Liberal Party
• Communist Party of Australia (1920 - 1991)
• Country and Progressive National Party
• Democratic Labor Party (1955-78)
• Free Trade Party
• Illawarra Workers Party
• Lang Labor Also known as Non-Communist Labor Party
• Liberal and Country League
• Liberal Movement
• Liberal Reform Party
• National Alliance (WA)
• Natural Law Party
• New LM
• National Socialist Party of Australia
• Nationalist Party of Australia
• Party! Party! Party!
• Progressive Party
• Protectionist Party
• Reform the Legal System
• SA First
• Single Tax League
• State Labor Party (NSW non-Lang)
• Sun Ripened Warm Tomato Party
• Surprise Party
• Unite Australia Party
• United Australia Party
• United Tasmania Group

[edit] See also

• Index of political parties to browse parties by name
• List of political parties to browse parties by country
• List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
• Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals

[edit] Other parties on the Internet

• Directories: Australian Politics/Yahoo Australia & NZ
• Citizens' Electoral Council
• Communist Party of Australia
• The Fishing Party
• HEMP Party
• Hope Party
• Non-Custodial Parents Party
• Progressive Labour Party
• Republican Party of Australia
• Socialist Alliance
• Socialist Democracy
• Socialist Equality Party
• Unity Party

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