Liberal Party of Australia (A.C.T. Division)

Last updated

Liberal Party of Australia (A.C.T. Division)
Leader Elizabeth Lee
Founded27 January 1949;74 years ago (1949-01-27)
Headquarters4/50 Geils Court, Deakin ACT 2600
Youth wing Young Liberals
Women's wing Liberal Women's Council
LGBT wing Liberal Pride [1]
Norfolk Island wingNorfolk Island Interest Branch [2]
Ideology Conservatism
Liberalism (Australian)
Liberal conservatism
Political position Centre-right
National affiliation Liberal Party of Australia
Legislative Assembly
9 / 25
House of Representatives
0 / 3
(ACT seats)
Senate
0 / 2
(ACT seats)
Website
canberraliberals.org.au
Twitter logo of Canberra Liberals prior to 2021 Logo Canberra Liberals.jpg
Twitter logo of Canberra Liberals prior to 2021

The Liberal Party of Australia (Australian Capital Territory Division), [3] branded as Canberra Liberals, is the division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The party has been in opposition in the ACT Legislative Assembly for much of its existence, but held power with the support of minor parties and independents between 1989 and 1991 and again between 1995 and 2001.

Contents

History

The first Liberal branch in Canberra was formed in order to field a candidate in the newly created Division of Australian Capital Territory at the 1949 federal election. The first meeting of the branch was held at the Albert Hall on 27 January 1949. The inaugural meeting of the Canberra women's branch was held on 29 June 1949. By 1961, there were three branches of the Liberal Party in the ACT, and a branch of the Young Liberals was created around the same time. [4]

The party held a number of seats in the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly throughout its existence. In the first election under self-government in 1989 the Liberal Party won four seats. [5] The Liberals were led in the Assembly by Trevor Kaine, initially in opposition but in December 1989 the party formed a coalition known as the Alliance with the Residents Rally that lasted from December 1989 until June 1991 when a dispute over school closures broke up the coalition and returned the parties to opposition. [6] Kaine was briefly replaced as leader by Gary Humphries, [7] but regained the position a month later. [8] Two years later he was replaced by Kate Carnell. [9]

At the 1995 election the Liberals won 7 seats [10] and Carnell formed a minority government with the support of independent members Michael Moore and Paul Osborne who would both subsequently serve as ministers. Carnell served as Chief Minister until October 2000 when she resigned in advance of a no confidence motion over the increased costs of the Canberra Stadium. [11] She was succeeded by Humphries but the party lost power in the 2001 election. [12] It has been in opposition ever since, having installed and removed multiple leaders such as Zed Seselja, Jeremy Hanson and Alistair Coe. The current leader of the party is Elizabeth Lee. [13]

In the 2022 federal election, Seselja, who was the sole Canberra Liberals parliamentarian in federal parliament, lost his Senate seat to independent David Pocock. [14] This left the Canberra Liberals with no representation in the 47th Parliament. A review into the territory division's defeat at the election would be headed by former WA Liberal leader Mike Nahan and former Victorian Liberal senator Helen Kroger. The review would include an examination of the Canberra Liberals and its electoral performance among different voter segments, and would propose strategies to regain federal representation. [15]

Leaders

LeaderDate startedDate finishedChief Minister
Trevor Kaine 11 May 198921 June 19911989–1991
Gary Humphries 21 June 199122 July 1991
Trevor Kaine 22 July 199121 April 1993
Kate Carnell 21 April 199317 October 20001995–2000
Gary Humphries 17 October 200025 November 20022000–2001
Brendan Smyth 25 November 200216 May 2006
Bill Stefaniak 16 May 200613 December 2007
Zed Seselja 13 December 200711 January 2013
Jeremy Hanson 11 February 201325 October 2016
Alistair Coe 25 October 201627 October 2020
Elizabeth Lee 27 October 2020present

Election results

ElectionSeats won±Total votes %PositionLeader
1989
4 / 17
Increase2.svg421,088Increase2.svg14.87%Opposition Trevor Kaine
1992
6 / 17
Increase2.svg245,203Increase2.svg29.03%Opposition Trevor Kaine
1995
7 / 17
Increase2.svg166,895Increase2.svg40.48%Minority government Kate Carnell
1998
7 / 17
Steady2.svg068,221Decrease2.svg37.83%Coalition Kate Carnell
2001
7 / 17
Steady2.svg060,390Decrease2.svg31.64%Opposition Gary Humphries
2004
7 / 17
Steady2.svg071,083Increase2.svg34.81%Opposition Brendan Smyth
2008
6 / 17
Decrease2.svg166,861Decrease2.svg31.56%Opposition Zed Seselja
2012
8 / 17
Increase2.svg286,032Increase2.svg38.90%Opposition Zed Seselja
2016
11 / 25
Increase2.svg389,632Decrease2.svg36.72%Opposition Jeremy Hanson
2020
9 / 25
Decrease2.svg290,955Decrease2.svg33.8%Opposition Alistair Coe

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References

  1. ↑ "Liberal Pride". Liberal Pride.
  2. ↑ Join Party Canberra Liberals website
  3. ↑ CONSTITUTION of the LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA (AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY DIVISION), as amended November 2018
  4. ↑ "Our History". Canberra Liberals. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "List of elected candidates - 1989 Election". Elections ACT. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "'The accidental chief minister': Trevor Kaine 25 years on". Canberratimes.com.au. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "15 Jun 1991 - Kaine defers to Humphries after all - Trove". Trove.nla.gov.au. 15 June 1991. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "21 Jul 1991 - Humphries ditched - Trove". Trove.nla.gov.au. 21 July 1991. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "22 Apr 1993 - The ten-minute coup that stopped a hemorrhage - Trove". Canberra Times (Act : 1926 - 1995). Trove.nla.gov.au. 22 April 1993. p. 1. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "List of elected candidates - 1995 Election". Elections ACT. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "ACT's controversial former chief minister Kate Carnell has returned to the main game selling a forceful message". Canberratimes.com.au. 31 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Liberals Analysis. ACT Election Guide 2004". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  13. ↑ Green, Antony. "Election Preview". ABC News. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "David Pocock officially declared first independent senator for the ACT, unseating Liberal Zed Seselja". ABC News. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "Review into Canberra Liberals election defeat to tackle independents 'challenge'". Riotact. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.


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