Moderates (Liberal Party of Australia)

Last updated

Moderate Faction
Modern Liberals
AbbreviationML
Leader Simon Birmingham
Ideology
Political position Centre to centre-right
Colours  Blue
House of Representatives
9 / 40
(2023 seats)
Senate
6 / 25
(2024 seats)
Tasmanian House of Assembly [1]
3 / 11

The Moderates, [lower-alpha 1] [2] [3] also known as Modern Liberals, [4] [5] Small-L Liberals [6] or Liberal Left, [7] are members, supporters, voters and a faction of the Australian Liberal Party who are typically economically liberal, but progressive on social and environmental policies. [8] [9] [10] The faction has been described as centre [7] [11] [12] to centre-right. [13]

Contents

They compete with the Liberal Party's other two major factions: The National Right/Hard Right and the Centre Right.

Geographical base

Moderate Liberals often represent inner-city and wealthy House of Representatives seats or are in the Senate. [14] The Moderates are noted as having very little presence in the states of Queensland and Western Australia, while in Victoria the nominal Moderate faction is not affiliated with those of the other states. [14] The Moderates are the dominant faction in New South Wales and have provided all of the past three Liberal leaders in Tasmania (all of whom served as Premier).

Membership

Prominent moderates include former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, [15] former Foreign Affairs Minister and former Deputy Leader Julie Bishop, [16] former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, [17] former Attorney-General George Brandis, [18] and former Liberal-turned-independent MP Julia Banks. [19]

Prominent moderates in the Morrison government included Senate leader Simon Birmingham, [20] Marise Payne, Paul Fletcher and Linda Reynolds. [21]

At the state level, three Liberal leaders are from this faction: Mark Speakman (the New South Wales Opposition Leader), [22] John Pesutto (the Victorian Opposition Leader) [23] and Jeremy Rockliff (the current Tasmanian Premier). [24] Prominent Moderates in New South Wales include Gladys Berejiklian (the 45th Premier of New South Wales), [25] Matt Kean (the faction's leader in New South Wales and former deputy leader of the party), [26] Rob Stokes (a former Cabinet minister) [27] and Natalie Ward (the party's deputy leader in New South Wales). [28] Prominent Moderates in other states include Georgie Crozier and David Southwick in Victoria; [23] John Gardner, Vincent Tarzia, Josh Teague and Tim Whetstone in South Australia; [29] [30] and Peter Gutwein and Will Hodgman in Tasmania (who both served as Premier). [31] [32]

Current federal House members

As of 9 April 2023. [33]

Current federal Senate members

As of March 2024 [34]

Former federal House members

Former federal Senate members

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Short for "Moderate Faction".
  2. ↑ Dave Sharma was formerly the Member for Wentworth from 2019 to 2022.
  3. ↑ Julia Banks left the Liberal Party in 2018 while sitting as a federal MP.

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References

  1. ↑ "Who is who in the new Tasmanian Lower House of Parliament". ABC News. 14 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Turnbull, Malcolm (2020). A Bigger Picture. Australia: Hardie Grant Books. p. 110. ISBN   978-1-74379-563-7.
  3. ↑ "Comment: Rise of the Liberal moderates". SBS News. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ↑ The New Social Contract. Queensland, Australia: Connor Court Publishing Pty Ltd. 2020. ISBN   978-1-922449-03-0.
  5. ↑ "'Modern Liberals': Dave Sharma and Tim Wilson rebrand over climate change". the Guardian. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Steketee, Mike (12 March 2021). "The revolt of the Liberal moderates". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Centrist Liberals need stronger voice". 20 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Massola, James (9 April 2023). "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald . Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Liberal moderates on guard as up to 10 seats vulnerable to progressive backlash". Australian Financial Review. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Turnbull is right to link the Liberals with the centre – but is the centre where it used to be?". 12 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Malcolm Turnbull hits back at right-wing Liberals, says party was never intended to be conservative". 11 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "Malcolm Turnbull and the great paradox of Australian politics". 22 May 2018.
  14. 1 2 Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "Malcolm Turnbull: The man who couldn't be king". SBS News. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Behind the Curtin, an epic power struggle is taking place within the WA Liberals". www.abc.net.au. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "'We are in the winner's circle': Pyne crows about influence of Liberal party's left faction". SBS News. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  18. ↑ Grattan, Michelle (7 February 2018). "George Brandis warns Liberals against rise of populist right". The Conversation. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Banks, Julia (2 July 2021). "'Shut up and take your HRT': ex-MP Julia Banks on Canberra's boys' club". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  20. ↑ "The rise of the next generation of factional leaders". 23 August 2019.
  21. ↑ "Your Government | Prime Minister of Australia". www.pm.gov.au. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Mark Speakman elected leader of the NSW Liberals, promising renewal". Australian Financial Review. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Victorian Liberal leadership contest hangs in the balance". The Age. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  24. ↑ "Right shift not the fix: Tas Lib premier". The Canberra Times. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "Gladys Berejiklian Elected NSW Premier". Triple M. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  26. ↑ Smith, Alexandra (15 September 2022). "Senior Libs push rising star Natalie Ward for lower house seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  27. ↑ Davies, Anne (22 January 2022). "The Right stuff: why shellshocked NSW Liberal moderates are fearing factional fights". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  28. ↑ "New Liberal leader speaks out on NSW party's future". Australian Associated Press. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  29. ↑ Richardson, Tom (8 April 2022). "Teague bids for Lib leadership as federal heavyweight tapped for major review". InDaily. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  30. ↑ Richardson, Tom (19 April 2022). "Great Scot: Speirs takes leadership as Libs seek renewal". InDaily. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "New Liberal premier of Tasmania Peter Gutwein says we must 'do more' on climate change". The Guardian. 20 January 2020. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  32. ↑ "Few have achieved as much as Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman". The Australian. 14 January 2020.
  33. ↑ Massola, James (9 April 2023). "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023.
  34. ↑ https://www.liberal.org.au/our-team
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