Liberal Democratic Party (Australia)

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Liberal Democratic Party
Leader	Peter Whelan
Founded	2001
Headquarters	PO Box 773 Dickson ACT 2602
Ideology	Libertarianism, Classical liberalism
International affiliation	No affiliation
Website
www.ldp.org.au
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is a classical liberal (moderate libertarian) Australian political party founded in 2001.

The Australian LDP is a grassroots party, started and run by ordinary citizens who have concerns about the degree of government control in the lives of Australians, and feel strongly about core issues involving the right to self-ownership.

The party has contested the last three ACT elections receiving 1% (2001), 1.3% (2004) and 0.9% (2008) of the vote in the seats that they contested.

The LDP contested their first federal election in November 2007, with 47 Lower House candidates and Senate candidates in all states as well as the ACT.^[1] It secured 0.13% of the vote in the Senate (just under 17,000 votes) and 0.14% of the vote in the House of Representatives (just over 17,000 votes).

The LDP ran a candidate in the 2008 Gippsland by-election, receiving over 4 percent of the vote -- their best performance to date.^[2]

Contents 1 Party name 2 Philosophy 3 Policies 4 History 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Party name

In 2007 the AEC refused to register the party federally under the name "Liberal Democratic Party" and so the party chose to register as the "Liberty and Democracy Party".^[3] However in 2008 the party successfully applied to the Australian Electoral Commission to change its federally registered name to "Liberal Democratic Party".^[4] During this episode the party remained registered under its original name in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).^[5]

[edit] Philosophy

The party generally adheres to libertarian and classical liberal principles, with a low tax laissez-faire approach to economics and a high regard for individual freedom and responsibility.^[6]

[edit] Policies

LDP policies include:^[7]

• Legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide;
• Significantly reduced tax rates and government spending;
• Re-legalisation of marijuana;
• Support of shooters' rights;
• Support of voluntary voting;
• Advocate Free migration agreements with more nations (as already exists between Australia and New Zealand) and;
• a general immigration tariff on immigrants from other nations to replace the existing quota system.
• Opposition to corporate welfare;
• Support of competitive federalism and political decentralisation;
• Support of free trade;
• Support of gay marriage; and
• Support of property owners' rights with regards to all matters including smoking.

[edit] History

• 2001: Liberal Democratic Party founded by John Humphreys.
• 2001: Contests the 2001 ACT election, receiving one percent of the vote.^[8]
• 2004: Contests the 2004 ACT election, receiving 1.3 percent of the vote.^[9]
• 2005: David McAlary becomes party president.
• 2007: Holds first national conference.^[10]
• 2007: Registers federally, changing its name to "Liberty and Democracy Party" to meet electoral commission requirements.^[11][12]
• 2007: Contests 2007 federal election, winning 17,048 votes (0.14 percent) in the lower house, and 16,942 votes (0.13 percent} in the upper house.
• 2008: Peter Whelan becomes party president.
• 2008: Contests 2008 Gippsland by-election, winning 4.2 percent of the vote.
• 2008: Contests the seat of Molonglo in the 2008 ACT election, winning 0.9% of the vote.
• 2008: Applies successfully to the AEC to change its federally registered name to "Liberal Democratic Party".^[13]
• 2009: Contests the 2009 Higgins and Bradfield by-elections, winning 0.5% and 0.8% of the vote respectively.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Liberal Democratic Party official website
• LDP history - according to party
• LDP history - according to founder
• LDP blog
• LDP videos

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