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Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)

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This article is about the current Australian political party founded after the dissolution of the original DLP. For the earlier party, see Democratic Labor Party (historical).
There is South Korean party of the same name. For other parties with this name around the world, see Democratic Labour Party.
Democratic Labor Party
LeaderDavid McCabe (federal president)
Founded1955 or 1978, debatable
IdeologyAnti-economic rationalism,
Social conservatism, Right-wing
Website
http://www.dlp.org.au/

The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. Elected at the 2010 federal election, the DLP's John Madigan will take his seat in the Australian Senate for Victoria from July 2011.

The party has its origins in the historical Democratic Labor Party[1], a conservative Catholic-based anti-communist political party which existed from the 1955 split in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) until the 1978 DLP vote for dissolution, and which until 1974 played an important role in Australian politics. The Australian Electoral Commission considers the current DLP to be legally the same as the earlier DLP, and so the party was not affected by laws from the John Howard era (1996–2007) which deregistered parties which had never had a parliamentary presence and prohibited party names that include words from another party's name.[2][3] A party named the Democratic Labor Party has competed in all elections since 1955.[4]

Original DLP: 1955-1978

Further information: Democratic Labor Party (historical)

The original DLP resulted from the conservative Catholic National Civic Council's anti-communist entryist tactics within the ALP and Australian trade union movement, which triggered a schism within the ALP. Subsequently, the DLP used the Alternative Vote electoral system to direct electoral preferences away from the ALP at state and federal levels, until its membership and party organisation declined sufficiently to render it electorally impotent in the early seventies. Its primary interests were related to industrial relations and foreign policy. It fell afoul of Australian resistance to that nation's involvement in the Vietnam War and suffered accordingly in terms of its electoral representation [5]

In 1978, DLP branches in all states, including Victoria, voted to dissolve. In Victoria, the vote passed by a few votes and 14 voters were found to be concurrently members of other political parties. Three-quarters of the Victorian branch's executive rejected the vote and continued the party in that state. In 1986, unions affiliated with the DLP, which had been unaffiliated since 1978, re-affiliated with the ALP.

Elections

At the 2006 Victorian election, the new DLP won parliamentary representation for the first time when it won a seat in the Victorian Legislative Council. The old DLP was wound up in 1978, but a small group of DLP activists in Victoria formed a new DLP, which has contested Senate elections in Victoria at every election since 1984 and a number of Senate seats in other States in the 2007 Federal Election. In the 2007 Federal Election the Democratic Labor party received 115,966 first preference senate votes nationally. This included 52,977 senate votes for NSW, which was more than the Democrats and more than Family First.[6] It contested the 2008 Mayo by-election and Lyne byelections, neither of which were contested by the ALP.[7]

At the 2004 Federal Election, the DLP received 58,042 first preference, or 1.94% of all votes, in the Victorian Senate election.[8] These votes assisted in the election of Steve Fielding from Family First to the Senate, even though the DLP vote was higher than the Family First vote. It also contested the federal divisions of Ballarat,[9] and McMillan.[10]

The DLP contested the 2006 Victorian State Election, fielding candidates in the eight regions of the reformed Legislative Council, where proportional representation gave the party the best chance of having members elected. It polled 1.97% of the first preference[11] vote. However, in two regions it polled higher, with 2.70% in Western Victoria and 5.11% in Northern Metropolitan. This was enough to elect one member, Peter Kavanagh, on ALP preferences in Western Victoria Region. They briefly looked set to have a second member, party leader John Mulholland, elected in Northern Metropolitan, but this result was overturned after a recount. Kavanagh was defeated at the next election.

DLP formed state parties in Queensland (2007) and New South Wales (2008) with a view to registering for and contesting state and local elections.

2010 federal election

Shortly after counting began, DLP candidate John Madigan looked likely to be elected at the 2010 federal election as the sixth and final Senator for Victoria, which was confirmed a few weeks later. Preference counts indicate that the primary DLP vote of 2.3 percent (75,145 votes) in Victoria overtook the Family First Party on account of One Nation and Christian Democratic preferences, then inherited Family First preferences, then reached the 14.3 percent quota with Liberal/National preferences.[12][13][14]

Madigan will be the first senator to be elected as member of a party under the name of "Democratic Labor Party" since the 1970 Senate-only election.

Politics of the DLP

The party has a comprehensive policy platform, and Peter Kavanagh has referred to the heritage of the historic Democratic Labor Party, claiming that "The DLP remains the only political party in Australia which is pro-family, pro-life and genuinely pro-worker." Critics have charged that this policy orientation reflects a sectarian, conservative Catholic position that endangers the religious freedom of others, as well as faith/state separation [15]

The DLP website[16] claims to be not “left” or “right” but centre-“decentralist”. The DLP’s stated principles are “democracy”, “liberty” and “peace”. Its policies promote:

  1. against abortion, euthanasia and the destruction of human embryos
  2. opposition to giving homosexual unions the same status as marriage
  3. "sharing out/decentralising power and resources"
  4. policies and values influenced by Christian thought as to the definition of "decency"
  5. building up defensive capacity

These policies are not dissimilar to the five primacies of the National Civic Council (NCC)> However, the DLP does not market itself as a Catholic or Christian party as such, although critics have argued that in its original incarnation, it was one of a number of NCC "front groups.' Others include the Australian Family Association and related organisations. An examination of its policies indicate that the DLP is opposed to libertarianism in the form of economic rationalism (neo-liberalism) and “progressive” social liberalism.

Following the election of DLP candidate Peter Kavanagh, attention has been given to the DLP platform of opposition to abortion and poker machines and its concern to deal with HIV/AIDS health risks associated with homosexual practice.[17] The party's policies include a "Progressive Expenditure Tax" (with no tax payable on any income that is saved or invested), universal living allowance tied to basic per capita living costs, rejection of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other taxes for general revenue that it views as regressive, federal funding for the education of students attending non-government schools to be based on an equitable distribution and increased diversification in overseas trade to broaden the base for growth, and on opposition to abortion, euthanasia, therapeutic cloning and same-sex marriage. The former DLP had the patronage of the Catholic Church in Victoria, but not in NSW.

Alleged internal dissent

In late August 2009, Melbourne newspaper The Age reported that the DLP was facing several internal divisions between Kavanagh's faction, which also sought to include evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants within the party, and 'hardline' conservative Catholics. Right to Life Australia President Marcel White and a close associate, Peter McBroom, were reported to be emphasising Catholic doctrinal and devotional concerns, like Marian apparitions, Catholic prayer, praying the rosary and campaigns against the "evils of contraception". Reportedly, Kavanagh may leave the organisation if the current 'hardline' elements triumph within the Victorian DLP.[18]

Infighting and financial issues

It was reported in June 2010 that the party was on the brink of collapse, with rampant party infighting and less than $10,000 in the bank. Police were also investigating the disappearance of potentially tens of thousands of dollars, attributed to the Victorian DLP's former secretary, John Mulholland, who has lost cases before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Australian Electoral Commission and Victorian Supreme Court over his claims that he is still "party secretary", despite expulsion from the party in January 2010. Kavanagh and other DLP officials stated that Mulholland engaged in "poor receipt keeping" during his period as secretary, over the last twenty-five years.[19]

On 18 March 2011 the Victorian Supreme Court handed down a reserved judgment confirming Mulholland's valid removal as secretary.[20]

Bibliography

  • Ross Fitzgerald: The Popes Battalions: Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split: St Lucia: University of Queensland Press: 2003.

References

  1. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/redleather-day-for-the-dlp-20100911-15629.html
  2. ^ Kelly, Norm. (2007) What's in a name? Everything, apparently.
  3. ^ AEC (2008) Electoral funding and disclosure report: Federal election 2007
  4. ^ Commonwealth Parliament Library. (1998–1999). Federal election results, 1948–1998. Research Paper No. 8.
  5. ^ Ross Fitzgerald: The Popes Battalions: Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split: Saint Lucia: University of Queensland Press: 2003
  6. ^ "Senate State First Preferences By Group". Results.aec.gov.au. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  7. ^ http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13826-188.htm http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13827-130.htm
  8. ^ "Senate State First Preferences By Group". Results.aec.gov.au. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  9. ^ "House of Representatives Division First Preferences". Results.aec.gov.au. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  10. ^ "House of Representatives Division First Preferences". Results.aec.gov.au. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Victoria State Election 2006 Results Summary". Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  12. ^ Family First's Steve Fielding loses Senate seat: The Age 16 September 2010
  13. ^ "Senate Results - Victoria - 2010 Federal Election". Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  14. ^ 2010 election Senate Results in Victoria: AEC
  15. ^ Kavanagh, Peter (27 May 2006). "DLP not eclipsed by Family First (letter)". National Civic Council (NCC). Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  16. ^ www.dlp.org.au
  17. ^ Taylor, Josie (13 December 2006). "Democratic Labor Party makes a comeback in Victoria". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
  18. ^ Michael Bachelard: "Turning Hard Right: The Battle for Right to Life" The Age 23 August 2009
  19. ^ Fyfe, Melissa (20 June 2010). "State DLP on brink of collapse: The Age 20 June 2010". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  20. ^ [1]

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