Free Trade Party Free Trade and Liberal Association | |
|---|---|
| Leader |
|
| Deputy Leader | Joseph Cook (1904–1908) |
| Founded | April 1889; 136 years ago (1889-04)[1] |
| Dissolved | May 1909; 116 years ago (1909-05) |
| Merger of |
|
| Merged into | Liberal |
| Headquarters | Hunter Street,Sydney,New South Wales[1] |
| Ideology |
|
| Political position | Centre-right[4] toright-wing[3][5] |
| Colours | Yellow |
| House of Representatives | 28 / 75 (1901–1903) |
| Senate | 17 / 36 (1901–1903) |
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | 79 / 124 (1887–1889) |
| Part ofa series on |
| Liberalism in Australia |
|---|
 |
TheFree Trade Party (FTP), officially known as theFree Trade and Liberal Association and also referred to as theRevenue Tariff Party in some states, was anAustralian political party. It was formally organised in 1887 inNew South Wales, in time for the1887 New South Wales colonial election, which the party won.
The party advocated the abolition ofprotectionism, especiallyprotective tariffs and other restrictions on trade, arguing that this would create greater prosperity for all. However, many members also advocated use of minimal tariffs for governmentrevenue purposes only. Its most prominent leader wasGeorge Reid, who led theReid government as the fourthPrime Minister of Australia (1904–1905).
In New South Wales, it was succeeded by the Liberal and Reform Association in 1902, and federally by theAnti-Socialist Party in 1906.[6][7] In 1909, the Anti-Socialist Party merged with theProtectionist Party to form theLiberal Party.
The party was centred onNew South Wales, where its leaders wereSir Henry Parkes andSir George Reid. It dominated New South Wales colonial politics beforefederation. It first contested the1887 New South Wales election.
At the1901 elections for the firstCommonwealth Parliament, the Free Traders, who campaigned in some states as the Revenue Tariff Party, formed the second largest group in theAustralian House of Representatives, with 25 seats. Reid became the Parliament's firstOpposition Leader withWilliam McMillan as his deputy, later becomingPrime Minister in 1904–05.Dugald Thomson became deputy leader of the party in early 1904 following McMillan's retirement. Thomson would himself hand over the Deputy position toJoseph Cook on 28 July 1905 following the fall of theReid government.
A separateTasmanian Revenue Tariff Party contested the1903 federal election in Tasmania and won two seats. However, the Tasmanian party sat and merged with the Free Trade Party in federal Parliament.
After the question of tariffs had largely been settled, Reid cast around for another cause to justify his party's existence. He settled on opposition to socialism, criticising both theAustralian Labour Party and the support offered by it to theProtectionist Party, led byAlfred Deakin. Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs non-Labour lines – prior to the1906 election, he renamed the Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in theWestminster tradition and regarded atwo-party system as very much the norm.[8]
The Labor Party and the FTP/ASP continued to grow in electoral strength at the expense of the Protectionist vote. Some Protectionists continued their exodus to Labor and the ASP.[citation needed]
When Deakin proposed theCommonwealth Liberal Party, a "Fusion" of the two non-Labour parties, Reid announced his intention to resign as party leader on 16 November 1908.Joseph Cook was elected leader unopposed on 26 November,[9] and he led the party until the merger with the Protectionists. No deputy leader was elected under Cook.[10]
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Portrait | Electorate | Took office | Left office | Term | Premier(term) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Parkes (1815–1896) |  | St Leonards, NSW | 1887 | 22 October 1891 | 4 years | Parkes(1887–1889) | |
| Dibbs(1889) | ||||||||
| Parkes(1889–1891) | ||||||||
| 2 | George Reid (1860–1947) |  | East Sydney, NSW | 18 November 1891 | 17 July 1894 | 9 years, 131 days | Dibbs(1891–1894) | |
| Sydney-King, NSW | 17 July 1894 | 29 March 1901 | Reid(1894–1899) | |||||
| Lyne(1899–1901) | ||||||||
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Portrait | Electorate | Took office | Left office | Term | Prime Minister(term) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (2) | George Reid (1860–1947) | | East Sydney, Aus | 29 March 1901 | 16 November 1908 | 7 years, 232 days | Barton(1901–1903) | |
| Deakin(1903–1904) | ||||||||
| Watson(1904) | ||||||||
| Reid(1904–1905) | ||||||||
| Deakin(1905–1908) | ||||||||
| Fisher(1908–1909) | ||||||||
| 3 | Joseph Cook (1860–1947) |  | Parramatta, Aus | 26 November 1908 | 26 May 1909 | 181 days | ||
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1887 | 78,238 (#1) | 60.75 | 79 / 124 | – | |
| 1889 | 73,348 (#1) | 48.63 | 66 / 137 |  13 | |
| 1891 | 65,850 (#2) | 36.49 | 44 / 141 | 22 | |
| 1894 | 60,966 (#1) | 30.34 | 50 / 125 |  6 | |
| 1895 | 56,347 (#1) | 37.15 | 58 / 125 | 8 | |
| 1898 | 58,214 (#2) | 32.89 | 45 / 125 | 13 |
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 151,960 (#2) | 30.03 | 28 / 75 | – | |
| 1903 | 247,774 (#1) | 34.37 | 24 / 75 | 4 | |
| 1906 | 363,257 (#1) | 38.17 | 26 / 75 | 2 |
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,053,012 (#2) | 39.44 | 17 / 36 | – | |
| 1903 | 986,030 (#1) | 34.33 | 12 / 36 | 5 | |
| 1906 | 1,384,662 (#1) | 46.53 | 14 / 36 | 2 |
The Anti-Socialistic Party is the Free-trade Party; protection is socialistic.
Media related toFree Trade Party at Wikimedia Commons
