The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia. The party is one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party. The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Australia Party. Historically the most successful political party in Australia's history, the party is now in opposition at a federal level and does not hold government in any Australian state or territory with the exception of the island state of Tasmania.
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is a centre-right Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a federal level.
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th prime minister of Australia from 1939 to 1941 and 1949 to 1966. He held office as the leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) in his first term, and subsequently as the inaugural leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, which he was responsible for establishing and defining in policy and political outreach. He is the longest-serving prime minister in Australian history.
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prime ministers: Joseph Lyons (1932–1939) and Robert Menzies (1939–1941).
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations, but some are semi-autonomous agencies within government, and some are associated with particular political parties, businesses or the military. Think tanks are often funded by individual donations, with many also accepting government grants.
New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the United States, the Second New Right campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), the Panama Canal Treaty, affirmative action, and most forms of taxation.
The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor or Labor Unity, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more supportive of free markets and more or equally socially conservative than the Labor Left The Labor Right is a broad alliance of various state factions and competes with the Labor Left faction.
In Australia, liberalism has a vast interpretation and a broad definition. It dates back to the earliest Australian pioneers and has maintained a strong foothold to the present day. Modern-day Australian liberalism is the successor to colonial liberalism, and has been compared to British liberalism for its similarity. The primary representation of Australian liberalism is the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Unlike in the United States, liberalism in Australia, and the term "liberal", is often associated with conservatism.
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition or the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system. The Coalition was last in government from 2013 to 2022. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 federal election.
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a conservative non-profit free market public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as free markets, privatisation, deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation, deregulation of workplaces, abolition of the minimum wage, criticism of socialism, and repeal of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. It also rejects large parts of climate science.
The Menzies Research Centre Ltd is an Australian public policy think tank. It was founded in 1994 and is named in honour of Sir Robert Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party of Australia and Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister. It is the think-tank of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Conservatism in Australia refers to the political philosophy of conservatism as it has developed in Australia. Politics in Australia has, since at least the 1910s, been most predominantly a contest between the Australian labour movement and the combined forces of anti-Labour groups. The anti-Labour groups have at times identified themselves as "free trade", "nationalist", "anti-communist", "liberal", and "right of centre", among other labels; until the 1990s, the label "conservative" had rarely been used in Australia, and when used it tended to be used by pro-Labour forces as a term of disparagement against their opponents. Electorally, conservatism has been the most successful political brand in Australian history.
The Progress Party, initially known as the Workers Party, was a minor political party in Australia in the mid-to-late 1970s. It was formed on 26 January 1975, as a free-market right-libertarian and anti-socialist party, by businessmen John Singleton and Sinclair Hill, in reaction to the economic policies of Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam. It operated and ran candidates in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, but it did not have a central federal structure. Its Western Australian affiliate, which advocated secession from the rest of Australia, did particularly well in the area surrounding Geraldton in the state's Mid West. However, the party failed to win seats at any level of government and had gone out of existence by 1981.
Tom Switzer is the executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies, a Sydney-based libertarian public-policy research think tank that focuses on classical liberal issues. He is also the host of Between the Lines on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and a columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review.
The Menzies government (1939–1941) refers to the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Menzies led the United Australia Party in the Australian Parliament from 1939 to 1941. Menzies served a later and longer term as prime minister as leader of a successor party, the Liberal Party of Australia from 1949 to 1966.
Louise Eileen Staley is an Australian politician. She was elected as Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in November 2014, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Ripon until her defeat in 2022.
Salvatore Babones is an American sociologist, and an associate professor at the University of Sydney.
The Green Institute is an Australian public policy think tank founded in 2008. The institute "supports green politics through education, action, research and debate".
The R. G. Menzies House, also known colloquially as Liberal Headquarters, or simply Menzies House, is the official headquarters of the Australian Federal Liberal Party. It is also home to the party's think tank, the Menzies Research Centre. It was built in the Georgian architectural-style and is described as a "two-floored, red-brick house." It is located in the Canberra suburb of Barton, less than one kilometre from Parliament House.
