Legalise Cannabis Australia

Last updated

Legalise Cannabis Australia
PresidentMichael Balderstone
FounderNigel Quinlan
Founded1993;31 years ago (1993)
Headquarters Nimbin, New South Wales
Ideology Cannabis legalisation
Political position Big tent [1]
Colours  Green
House of Representatives
0 / 151
Senate
0 / 76
NSW Legislative Council
1 / 42
Victorian Legislative Council
2 / 40
WA Legislative Council
2 / 36
City of Rockingham
1 / 13
Website
legalisecannabis.org.au

Legalise Cannabis Australia, formerly the Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party, is a single-issue Australian political party. [2] It has a number of policies that centre around the re-legalisation and regulation of cannabis for personal, medicinal and industrial uses in Australia. [3]

Contents

The party's headquarters are based in Nimbin, New South Wales, which is known to have a high population of recreational cannabis users and hippies. [4] Nimbin is also home to the MardiGrass cannabis festival.

The party has been involved in Glenn Druery's Minor Party Alliance. [5] [6]

History

Formation

The group was founded in 1993 by Nigel Quinlan, who ran as a candidate under the name Nigel Free marijuana. In 2001, Free marijuana's name was assessed by the Australian Electoral Commission as to whether it was suitable to be added to the electoral roll – the Commission found that it was, meaning Free marijuana could run as an electoral candidate under the name. [7]

Deregistration and re-registration

In 2007, prior to the 2007 federal election, HEMP was de-registered as a political party by the Australian Electoral Commission after a random audit of its membership. [8] The group re-applied for party registration in February 2010, but according to HEMP secretary Graham Askey, delays in processing their application meant that registration did not proceed in time before the 2010 federal election was called. [9] It was formally re-registered on 23 September 2010. [10]

Name change

At the party's AGM held on 11 September 2021, a name change was proposed to change the party's name to Legalise Cannabis Australia, which was passed in a vote by party members. [11]

State and territory affiliates

The party's current affiliates are the following:

DivisionLeader Lower House Upper House Status
Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Leo Treasure
0 / 59
2 / 36
Crossbench
Legalise Cannabis Queensland
0 / 93
NoneExtra-parliamentary
Legalise Cannabis SA
0 / 47
0 / 22
Extra-parliamentary
Legalise Cannabis NSW
0 / 93
1 / 42
Crossbench
Legalise Cannabis Victoria
0 / 88
2 / 40
Crossbench

Legalise Cannabis South Australia stood two candidates in the 2022 South Australian state election. These were lead candidate Damon Adams and second candidate Tyler Green. Neither were elected. [12]

Electoral results

HEMP has stood candidates in several federal and state elections, since its formation. [13]

The party received a nationwide Senate vote of 0.71 percent at the 2013 federal election. Historically the party's best result was at the 1994 Elizabeth by-election in South Australia with a 5.37 percent primary vote.

For the 2016 federal election, the (HEMP) Party fielded two candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, but only one each in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. So that the candidates did not end up in the "ungrouped" column, they teamed up with the Australian Sex Party which also fielded a single senate candidate in most states. It also fielded a candidate for the Division of Solomon in the House of Representatives. [14]

The HEMP Party scored well in the 2019 federal election with over 260,000 votes and 1.8% of the primary senate vote. [15]

Michael Balderstone ran in the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election and received 2.3% of votes beating out almost every other minor party. [16]

At the 2021 Western Australian state election, the Party's local affiliate, Legalise Cannabis WA, were successful in gaining two seats in the Legislative Council, marking the first parliamentary representation for HEMP or its state affiliate parties. [17]

At the 2022 Victorian state election the party had two candidates elected to the Legislative Council, David Ettershank and Rachel Payne.

Australian Senate

ElectionVotes %Seats wonTotal seats±Status
1996 3,836 [lower-alpha 1] 0.00 (#21)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
1998 0
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2001 63,6480.55 (#10)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2004 41,5010.35 (#11)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2007 0 [lower-alpha 2]
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2010 0
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2013 95,4300.71 (#12)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2016 106,326 [lower-alpha 3] 0.76 (#12)
0 / 76
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2019 262,4261.80 (#6)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary
2022 501,4213.33 (#6)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady2.svg 0Extra-parliamentary

List of parliamentarians

NameChamberElectorateTerm beganTerm endedLength of term
Sophia Moermond Western Australian Legislative Council South West 22 May 2021Incumbent2 years, 297 days
Brian Walker Western Australian Legislative Council East Metropolitan 22 May 2021Incumbent2 years, 297 days
David Ettershank Victorian Legislative Council Western Metropolitan 26 November 2022Incumbent1 year, 109 days
Rachel Payne Victorian Legislative Council South-Eastern Metropolitan 26 November 2022Incumbent1 year, 109 days
Jeremy Buckingham New South Wales Legislative Council Statewide20 April 2023Incumbent329 days

See also

Notes

  1. A candidate named "J Freemarijuana" led the unregistered Group G party ticket in Queensland.
  2. The Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party was de-registered by the Australian Electoral Commission before the 2007 election, and re-registered after the 2010 election.
  3. The party ran on a joint ticket with the Australian Sex Party in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marijuana Party (Canada)</span> Political party in Canada

The Marijuana Party is a Canadian federal political party, whose agenda focuses on issues related to cannabis in Canada. Apart from this one issue, the party has no other official policies, meaning party candidates are free to express any views on all other political issues. Passage of the Cannabis Act in June 2018 legalized cannabis on 17 October 2018. However, the party is critical of some of the laws relating to cannabis since legalization and wants to see them changed or reformed. It also seeks to represent and advocate for the rights of cannabis consumers, growers, and small cannabis based businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party</span> New Zealand political party

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP), also known as the Cannabis Party, is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to the legalisation of cannabis for medical, recreational and industrial use. It was founded in 1996 and has stood in every general election since, but has never won representation in Parliament. Several of its members have gone on to political success after leaving the party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nimbin, New South Wales</span> Town in Australia

Nimbin is a town in the Northern Rivers area of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately 30 km (19 mi) north of Lismore, 33 km (21 mi) northeast of Kyogle, and 70 km (43 mi) west of Byron Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libertarian 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.

Cannabis Party, or Partido Cannabico refers in Spain to different initiatives of political party and political campaigning centered around cannabis, hemp and drug policy proposals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug liberalization</span> Process of reducing drug prohibition laws

Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include drug legalization, drug relegalization, and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug liberalization may favor a regulatory regime for the production, marketing, and distribution of some or all currently illegal drugs in a manner analogous to that for alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.

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">Fiona Patten</span> Australian politician

Fiona Heather Patten is an Australian politician. She is the leader of Reason Australia and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until she lost her seat at the 2022 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in New Zealand</span> Use of cannabis in New Zealand

The use of cannabis in New Zealand is regulated by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, which makes unauthorised possession of any amount of cannabis a crime. Cannabis is the fourth-most widely used recreational drug in New Zealand, after caffeine, alcohol and tobacco, and the most widely used illicit drug. In 2001 a household survey revealed that 13.4% of New Zealanders aged 15–64 used cannabis. This ranked as the ninth-highest cannabis consumption level in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Australia</span> Recreational and medicinal drug use

Cannabis is a plant used in Australia for recreational, medicinal and industrial purposes. In 2019, 36% of Australians over the age of fourteen years had used cannabis in their lifetime and 11.6% had used cannabis in the last 12 months.

<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.

Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR), formerly the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, is a United Kingdom lobby group which campaigns to end the prohibition of cannabis. The group was founded in 1997 and reformed as CLEAR in 2011. It campaigned in a number of elections until it was statutorily de-registered by the Electoral Commission in November 2013.

The Australian Marijuana Party was an Australian political party that operated in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It campaigned for the decriminalisation and legalisation of marijuana. The party ran candidates in several state and federal elections but never elected a candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug Law Reform Australia</span> Political party

Drug Law Reform Australia was a political party in Australia. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grassroots Party</span> American political party advocating marijuana legalization

The Grassroots Party was a political third party in the United States established in 1986 to oppose drug prohibition. The party shared many of the progressive values of the Farmer-Labor Party but with an emphasis on cannabis/hemp legalization issues, and the organization traced their roots to the Youth International Party of the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum</span> Referendum in New Zealand

The 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum was a non-binding referendum held on 17 October 2020 in conjunction with the 2020 general election and a euthanasia referendum, on the question of whether to legalise the sale, use, possession and production of recreational cannabis. It was rejected by New Zealand voters. The form of the referendum was a vote for or against the proposed "Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill". Official results were released by the Electoral Commission on 6 November 2020 with 50.7% of voters opposing the legalisation and 48.4% in support.

The Australian Sex Party was an Australian political party founded in 2009 in response to concerns over the purported increasing influence of religion in Australian politics. The party was born out of an adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Association. Its leader, Fiona Patten, was formerly the association's CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legalise Cannabis Queensland</span> Political party in Queensland, Australia

Legalise Cannabis Queensland (registered with the Electoral Commission Queensland as Legalise Cannabis Qld (Party)) is a political party based in Queensland, Australia. LCQ has a number of policies that centre around the personal, medical and industrial uses of cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abe Gray</span> Cannabis activist from New Zealand

Abraham Gabriel Gray is an American-born New Zealand cannabis activist, politician and founder of the Whakamana Cannabis Museum, New Zealand's first and only cannabis museum. Gray was a University of Otago lecturer and tutor for over a decade before founding the museum.

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

The Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party (LCWA) is a political party registered in Western Australia. The party advocates for law reform in relation to cannabis.

References

  1. Lane, Martin (7 July 2022). "Left and right unite in vote to legalise cannabis". Cannabiz: The Business of Cannabis. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. Schultz, Amber (2 April 2023). "From bong to ballot: The rise of the Legalise Cannabis Party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2023. Legalise Cannabis is a single-issue party, aiming to legalise cannabis, introduce a moratorium on arrests of cannabis consumers, and reform drug driving laws so impairment, not presence, is tested.
  3. Hennessy, James (11 May 2022). "Your Whirlwind Tour Of The Minor Parties Running At The Federal Election". PEDESTRIAN.TV. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. "Nimbin: Of Rebels, Hippies, and an Alernate Lifestyle". 13 September 2021.
  5. Bitter dispute erupts over Senate preferences in Queensland: ABC 5 September 2013
  6. Alliance of micro parties boosts odds for likes of One Nation or Shooters and Fishers gaining Senate spot through preferences: Daily Telegraph 5 September 2013
  7. Free marijuana and Australian Electoral Officer for Queensland, Australian Electoral Commission, 21 September 2001.
  8. HEMP Party election hopes go up in smoke, The Sydney Morning Herald , 2 November 2007.
  9. HEMP campaign stubbed out, ABC North Coast NSW, 19 July 2010.
  10. "Registration of the Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party". Australian Electoral Commission. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  11. Cannabis article regarding name change
  12. "Meet Our 2022 State Election Candidates". Legalise Cannabis South Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  13. Hemp party seeks more support, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 19 January 2005.
  14. "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  15. "senate primary vote". Australian Electoral Commission. 12 October 2020.
  16. "Eden Monaro by-election". Australian Broadcasting Company. 12 October 2020.
  17. "Legislative Council results". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 6 April 2021.