Drug Law Reform Australia

Last updated

Drug Law Reform Australia
FounderGreg Chipp
Founded2013
Dissolved31 July 2017
Headquarters Victoria
Ideology Drug policy reform
Website
www.druglawreform.com.au

Drug Law Reform Australia was a political party in Australia. [1] The aims of the party were to create a new regulatory system for illegal drugs in Australia, and influence the political debate around drug use towards decriminalisation and harm minimisation. The party is the outshoot of community groups lobbying elected politicians about the social effects of criminal drug prohibition, such as the community group Family and Friends of Drug Law Reform.

Contents

Foundation

Greg Chipp, son of Australian Democrats' leader Don Chipp, founded the party with other drug law reform activists in 2013 to encourage a debate about alternative drug policy. Policy based on human rights, and pragmatic evidence based public health approaches to illegal drug use and reducing stigma and criminal ramifications for people who use illegal substances. The party registered with the Australian Electoral Commission in July 2013. [2]

Policy context

In 2010, Australia’s drug law enforcement budget was $1.1 billion. [3] Around every ten minutes someone in Australia is arrested for a drug violation, with 112,049 arrests in 2013–14. [4]

National Drug Strategy 2016–25

The draft National Drug Strategy 2016–25 reported that "during the period of the National Drug Strategy 2010–2015, evidence informed demand, supply and harm reduction strategies yielded positive results". However, the same draft strategy informs that in 2011–12, police made 76,083 drug seizures; the highest number of drug seizures in the last decade. The same year, 809 clandestine laboratories were detected nationwide; the highest number ever detected in Australia. In 2012–13, police made the second highest number of detections ever at 757. The report did not comment on whether this is due to an increase in police activity or drug availability. There is also no reference to harm caused by legislation or any indication of a review of drug laws. The new strategy is to operate for the next 10 years, to 2025, without questioning the underlying criminal punishment approach to illegal drug use. [5]

2013 Federal election

The party contested the September 2013 federal election three months after the party's official registration, with candidates in several jurisdictions (Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory). Candidates received over 10,000 primary votes nationally in aggregate, but did not win any seats in the Australian Parliament. [6]

2016 federal election

Drug Law Reform Australia proposed to nominate candidates for the Senate in the 2016 federal election in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. [6] When nominations closed, it had actually fielded senate candidates in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and a total of 11 candidates for seats in the House of Representatives in the same states. [7]

Election results

The party received over 20,000 votes in the 2016 election, or 0.2% of the total votes. [8]

Deregistration

The party requested voluntary deregistration with the Australian Electoral Commission in July 2017. The party was officially deregistered on 31 July 2017. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Electoral Commission</span> National election commission

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory authority and agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management of federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outdoor Recreation Party</span> Australian minor political party

The Outdoor Recreation Party (ORP) was a minor political party originating in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It professed to represent the outdoor community and interests such as cycling, bushwalking, camping, kayaking, 4WD motoring, skiing, fishing and shooting. It was formally allied with the Liberal Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democratic Party (Australia)</span> Australian political party

The Libertarian Party, formerly known as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is an Australian political party founded in Canberra in 2001. The party espouses smaller government and supports policies that are based on classical liberal, libertarian principles, such as lower taxes, opposing restrictions on civil liberties, decentralisation, utilising nuclear energy, and the relaxation of smoking laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting)</span> Political party in Australia

The Non-Custodial Parents Party was a minor political party in Australia registered between 1999 and 2020. It supported less government control of many aspects of daily family life, focusing on reform of family law and child support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online Direct Democracy</span> Political party in Australia

Online Direct Democracy – was a registered Australian political party. It was briefly named Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! from January 2019 to September 2019, and had previously been known as Senator Online. The party was de-registered in December 2020.

Illicit drug use in Australia is the recreational use of prohibited drugs in Australia. Illicit drugs include illegal drugs, pharmaceutical drugs when used for non-medical purposes, and other substances used inappropriately. According to government and community organisations, the use and abuse, and the illegality, of illicit drugs is a social, health and legal issue that creates an annual illegal market estimated to be worth A$6.7 billion. Estimates made in 2022 place the figure at A$11.3 billion per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Equality Party (Australia)</span> Trotskyist political party

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is an unregistered Trotskyist political party in Australia. The SEP was established in 2010 as the successor party to the Socialist Labour League, which was founded in 1972 as the Australian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

Reason Australia, commonly referred to as the Reason Party or as simply Reason, is an Australian political party founded in 2017. Its leader, Fiona Patten, describes the party as a "civil libertarian alternative". Patten was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as at the 2018 state election in the Northern Metropolitan Region, after formerly being elected as a Sex Party member for the same seat in the 2014 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis political parties</span> Political parties advocating cannabis legalization

Cannabis political parties are generally single-issue parties that exist to oppose the laws against cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pirate Party Australia</span> Political party in Australia

Pirate Party Australia is a political party in Australia that had traditionally represented civil liberty issues, but had also expanded into more traditional areas of policy. It was a Pirate Party which was based on the Pirate Party of Sweden, and continued to develop a comprehensive policy platform since its formation based on the Pirate ethos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secular Party of Australia</span> Political party in Australia

The Secular Party of Australia is a minor Australian political party, founded in January 2006 and registered as a federal political party in 2010. It aims to promote secular humanist ethical principles and the separation of church and state in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rise Up Australia Party</span> Political party in Australia

Rise Up Australia Party was a far-right political party in Australia. The party's policy platform was focused on nationalist and Christian conservative issues, such as opposing Islamic immigration and religious freedom for Australian Muslims and opposition to same-sex marriage in Australia. The party was launched in 2011 and was led by Pentecostal minister Danny Nalliah until its dissolution in June 2019. Its slogan was "Keep Australia Australian". Nalliah is the president of Catch the Fire Ministries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullet Train for Australia</span> Political party in Australia

Bullet Train for Australia, formerly known as Bullet Train for Canberra, was an Australian political party, registered from 2013 to 2017. It was a single-issue party campaigning for a fast implementation of high-speed rail. It advocated that the first stage of the bullet train should run from Melbourne to Newcastle via Canberra and Sydney, and be built within 5 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Cyclists Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Cyclists Party was a minor political party in Australia. It was registered with the New South Wales Electoral Commission in 2014, and unsuccessfully contested the 2015 New South Wales state election. It was also registered later with the Victorian Electoral Commission, and unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Victorian state election. It registered with the Australian Electoral Commission for federal elections on 20 August 2014 and voluntarily deregistered on 5 September 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Equality Party (Marriage)</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Equality Party (Marriage) (also AEP; formerly Australian Equality Party) was an Australian political party founded by Jason Tuazon-McCheyne. The AEP had a platform that promoted equality and human rights, particularly in relation to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) community. The party's goal was to get AEP Leader, Jason Tuazon-McCheyne, elected to the Senate at the 2016 Federal Election. The party was deregistered voluntarily on 26 March 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow Vest Australia</span> Political party in Australia

Yellow Vest Australia (YVA), until 9 April 2019 known as the Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA), was a minor right-wing to far-right political party in Australia. The party was founded by members of the Q Society and has been described as the political wing of Q Society. The leader was Debbie Robinson (President), who was also national president of the Q Society. On 4 September 2020, the Australian Electoral Commission removed the Yellow Vest Australia from the registered political party list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seniors United Party of Australia</span> Former political party in Australia advocating pensioners interests

The Seniors United Party of Australia (SUPA) was an Australian political party. It was known as Seniors United NSW until 3 March 2016. The party was founded by Ray Morritt, Nick Agnew, Frank Fitzpatrick and Neil Smith who were dissatisfied with the NSW Government's legislation on retirement villages and other seniors issues. The party was deregistered by the AEC on 29 June 2022.

The Australian Recreational Fishers Party was a political party in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was created to defend recreational fishing against perceived intrusion from the commercial fishing industry, in particular to oppose the use of super trawlers such as Geelong Star in Australian waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great Australian Party</span> Australian political party

The Great Australian Party is a political party in Australia. The party was formally registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 7 April 2019 and is associated with former senator Rod Culleton who had been elected in the 2016 Australian federal election as a senator for Western Australia, but subsequently found to have been ineligible and was disqualified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drew Pavlou Democratic Alliance</span> Australian political party

Drew Pavlou Democratic Alliance (DPDA), also known as simply the Democratic Alliance, was an Australian political party founded in 2021. The party was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission on 28 February 2022.

References

  1. "Drug Law Reform Australia". Australian Electoral Commission. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  2. "AEC redirection page".
  3. Drug Policy Modelling Project UNSW https://dpmp.unsw.edu.au/
  4. https://www.crimecommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/IDDR-201314-SNAPSHOT.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  5. http://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/Publishing.nsf/content/73E3AD4C708D5726CA257ED000050625/$File/draftnds.pdf Page 4 National Drug Strategy (Draft document 2016-2025)
  6. 1 2 "Our Candidates". Drug Law Reform Australia. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  7. "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. "Results - Australia Votes | Federal Election 2016 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation .
  9. Drug Law Reform Australia Voluntary Deregistration. Accessed via the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) (official website). Retrieved 5 August 2017.