Reform Australia

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Reform Australia is an Australian right-wing populist movement founded in December 2025 by Walter Villatora. While it is not affiliate with Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, the movement's views emulate the principles espoused by Farage. It is aiming to become a new political party, but as of February 2026 has not yet registered as one.

Contents

Background and description

Walter Villatora was formerly Liberal Party campaign director for Mike Baird and Tony Abbott, [1] and president of the Warringah federal electorate conference [2] (a branch in Sydney). [1] In 2016 he was endorsed by Baird and Abbott to replace Bronwyn Bishop in the 2017 Manly state by-election, but was not selected. [3] [4]

Villatora left the Liberal Party after declaring that that it was "finished". In December 2025 he announced in an interview with Peter FitzSimons of The Sydney Morning Herald that he had formed a new political movement called Reform Australia. [5] He plans to formally register Reform Australia as a party, and told The Daily Telegraph that he intended to run candidates in both the House of Reps and in the Senate.[ citation needed ]

Villatora was also formerly co-owner of the company behind Turning Point Australia (TPAUS), Ark Harbour, with Joel Jammal, but split as TPAUS wanted to remain an independent lobby group and not affiliated with any political party. [5] [6] [7] Ex-Liberal candidate for the 2025 federal election, Ben Britton, who was dumped after expressing controversial views on Jammal's podcast, including that women should not serve in combat roles in the Australian Defence Force, [8] has been featured on Reform Australia's Facebook ads. [6]

Reform Australia has no affiliation with Nigel Farage's Reform UK party; [1] however, it appears to be modelled on Farage's style of British right-wing populism, [9] [3] and on its own website mentions Farage as an example to emulate. [10]

Activity and views

As of February 2026 Reform Australia is not registered as a political party. [11] Despite this, at an anti-immigration rally in Sydney in late November 2025, the group handed out pamphlets about Reform Australia. [12] The group has expressed support for the March for Australia movement, and featured videos made by TPAUS. [13]

Reform Australia presents itself as a traditional, "back to basics" movement, with promises of reforms to taxation, cost of living and continuing support for existing public services. It also presents an emphasis on freedom, equality, and border protection. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Villatora, Walter (13 December 2025). "Who is Walter Villatora? Ex-Liberal Party powerbroker says 'the party is over', starts his own: Reform Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald (Interview). Interviewed by FitzSimons, Peter. Archived from the original on 17 December 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  2. ↑ Grattan, Michelle (23 July 2017), Abbott scores big win on party reform as Coalition continues to trail in Newspoll, The Conversation, doi:10.64628/aa.7fmedncey
  3. 1 2 McDonald, Peta (16 February 2016). "Tony Abbott, Mike Baird write references for Bronwyn Bishop Liberal preselection rival". ABC News . Australia.
  4. ↑ Raper, Ashleigh (13 March 2017). "Manly pre-selection: Tony Abbott and Mike Baird face off over favourites". ABC News. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Turning Point Australia Stands Firm: Independence Confirmed After Shareholder Exit". Turning Point Australia . 2 December 2025. Archived from the original on 11 December 2025. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  6. 1 2 Bogle, Ariel; Canales, Sarah Basford (3 December 2025). "Reform Australia: who is behind the new rightwing group recruiting at an anti-immigration rally?". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  7. ↑ Haydar, Nour; Bogle, Ariel; Basford Canales, Sarah (8 December 2025). "Who is behind Australia's new rightwing political group?" (podcast + transcript). Full Story. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026. Retrieved 8 February 2026– via Podscan.fm.
  8. ↑ Courty, Audrey (6 April 2025). "Liberals dump NSW candidate who said women should not serve in ADF combat". ABC News. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  9. ↑ Dyrenfurth, Nick (21 January 2026). "A World of Pain as Shifting Tectonic Plates Reshape Our Politics". John Curtin Research Centre. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Reform Australia - New Political Party for Australian Democracy & Reform". Reform Australia. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  11. ↑ Australian Electoral Commission (30 January 2026). "Register of political parties". Archived from the original on 11 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Haydar, Nour; Bogle, Ariel; Basford Canales, Sarah (8 December 2025). "Who is behind Australia's new rightwing political group?" (podcast + transcript). Full Story. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026. Retrieved 8 February 2026– via Podscan.fm.
  13. ↑ Bogle, Ariel; Canales, Sarah Basford (3 December 2025). "Reform Australia: who is behind the new rightwing group recruiting at an anti-immigration rally?". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
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