Liberal Party Of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia
Party Chairman	Alan Stockdale
Senate Leader	N/A Leader = Scott Morrison
House Leader	N/A Deputy Leader = Josh Frydenberg
Founded	1944
Headquarters	Cnr Blackall & Macquarie St, Barton Canberra 2600
Political ideology	Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism
Political position	Fiscal: Free Market Social: Conservative
International affiliation	International Democrat Union Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (regional partner)
Color(s)	Blue
Website	www.liberal.org.au/

The Liberal Party of Australia is the main conservative political party based in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 by Sir Robert Menzies. Robert Menzies kept the Liberal Party in power during much of the post-war boom. As with many other Western democracies the winds of change swept through Australia and the Liberal Party was ousted from power by Gough Whitlam and the Australian Labor Party in 1972.

The Liberals in general believe in minimal interference by the government in the economy and are understood to be more socially conservative than their more left wing political opposition, the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens. Thus in this sense, the term "liberal" refers to neo-liberalism rather than the social liberalism that is implied in the American context.

Until the 1970s the Liberal Party occupied the centre of Australian politics. However, the breakway of left-wing groups meant that the Liberals have moved to the right of politics with the Labor Party occupying the centre-left.

The Liberal Party is divided into state-based divisions. The Liberals contest both local, state and federal elections. The current leader of the Liberal Party is Prime Minister Scott Morrison,^[1] while Josh Frydenberg serves as deputy leader.

Government[edit]

The Liberal Party is one of the two main parties of government at both state and federal level. Although it was the principal government party at federal level from 1996 to 2007, by the end of that period it had lost power to the Labor Party in every state and territory. Its low point arrived in November 2007 when it lost the federal election, leaving itself out of power nationwide. It has since bounced back and is currently in power at both the federal level and in Tasmania and New South Wales.

Possible Merger[edit]

In March 2008, the then leader of the federal Liberal Party, Brendan Nelson, indicated that he was in favor of a merger between his party and the National Party.^[2]

References[edit]