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Australian political ideologies

Key ideas:

• The history of Australian political ideologies;
• The ideologies of the major Australian political parties;
• The ideologies of current NT political parties.

Although we don't have time to go into detailed discussion about Australia's political parties, it is relevant to appreciate the time-line of party influence and the platforms of the major parties, Labor and Liberal, and their affiliates in the Northern Territory, the NT Labor Party and the Country Liberal Party. By reflecting on who was in power when and what their ideological platforms were you should begin to get a picture of the link between the changes in social, economic and environmental policies and the parties in power.

History of Australian political parties and their ideologies

During Australia's 'colonial' period, there were no real political parties. Instead interest groups were represented in parliament and politicians changed their allegiance depending on the leaders. It is only with the economic crises of the 1880s that groups of workers, at the docks, on the factory floor and in the rural areas started to organise themselves and defend their rights through trade unions.

The limited success of the strikes and protests they organised, forced unionists into seeking to achieve their goals through involvement in the political system and by sending their representatives to parliament. They were very successful with, for example, the Labour Leagues winning more than a quarter of the seats in NSW in 1891. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) was the world's first successful Labor party, first forming a minority national government in April 1904, and forming its first majority government in 1910. At this time, other political parties started to form to gain control of the balance of power and by 1910 party politics was in place in Australia with two principle parties sharing the majority of votes in the House of Representatives.

The Liberal Party in Australia formed in 1945 in response to the disparate nature of conservative political parties at a federal level and a need to form a cohesive and unified alternative to the powerful Australian Labor Party of the time. Ever since federation however, the political system in Australia has been dominated by two political groupings aligned along either liberal or conservative lines. In the last half of the twentieth century, this grouping coalesced into the two party political system that exists today.

The other political parties

Although they may have never won power, the other Australian political parties play an important role in representing the full range of views of Australia's different interest groups in parliament and in lobbying and educating the government and the public about issues they consider important. Often and particularly in recent years, the minor parties in parliament have held the balance of power in the Upper House or the Senate. In other words, they have representatives in a position where they have the deciding vote on issues, generally in the Senate (or Upper House). Members of Parliament such as Bob Brown (Greens) can sometimes wield inordinate power and control over government business because in the end the vote of their party members can allow or prevent legislation from being enacted. Sometimes it can even come down to one person's vote. The former Senator Harradine (an Independent senator from Tasmania) held the balance of power on a number of issues when it became obvious his was the deciding vote and the party votes within the Senate were evenly balanced.

Some parties have been able to play an active role in government by forming a coalition with another party to form a majority group. The National Party has a long-standing coalition relationship with the Liberal Party. In fact they are often called 'the coalition', rather than being identified as their respective parties.

You can see that the values and the platforms of the minor parties can often be quite important. The links below will help you to get an idea of the platforms that each of these so-called minor parties has when they enter Parliament.

• The Australian Democrats;
• National Party of Australia;
• Australian Greens.

Northern Territory government

The Northern Territory has been governed by the Country Liberal Party (CLP), which is the Northern Territory equivalent to the Liberal and National party coalition since the introduction of self-government in 1978 until the election of the first ever Labor government in 2001. They are directly affiliated with the Liberal Party in so far as a previous CLP Chief Minister is now the national Liberal Party President and CLP federal representatives sit with the National and Liberal parties in the Australian Parliament. Currently Clare Martin leads the first Australian Labor Party government in the Territory after taking the ALP to an historic first ever victory in the Territory in 1999.

Conclusion

These brief overviews of past and present political influences in Australia should provide you with a context with which to view Northern Territory-specific political issues and events. Keep in mind the particular political party (and its ideological platform) in power at any particular time because it helps to make sense of the decisions they make.

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© CDU | Last Updated March 5, 2007 | Authorised by: Head of School | CRICOS Provider No: 00300K