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In Australia,liberalism has a vast interpretation and a broad definition.[1] It dates back to the earliestAustralian pioneers and has maintained a strong foothold to the present day. Modern-day Australian liberalism is the successor tocolonial liberalism, and has been compared toBritish liberalism for its similarity. The primary representation (and political entity) of Australian liberalism is thecentre-rightLiberal Party of Australia. Unlike in theUnited States, in Australia, the term "liberal", is often associated withconservatism.[2][3]
Some of the earliest pioneers of thefederation movement, men such asAlfred Deakin, came under the influence ofDavid Syme ofThe Age. Other influencers of federalism includedSamuel Griffith who, while initially seen as a supporter of thelabour movement, became partisan against theLabour movement with his legal intervention in the1891 Australian Shearers' strike. While all of these men were generally self-described "liberals", their understanding ofliberalism differed substantially. At the time, Deakin was sometimes described as a "radical", and was disliked by both urbanconservatives, and thesquatting class of Australia. (However, Deakin was also consistently opposed to Labor, instrumental in the fusion of the centre-right parties, a strong supporter of theWhite Australia policy, and a prominent proponent of stronger trade and defence ties to the British Empire – a position that gained him admirers amongst tories in the UK.[4]) The degree ofprogressive sentiments also varied from colony to colony: social liberals such asDavid Syme were prominent inVictoria while others were prominent inSouth Australia, for instance. At any rate, Australia's parliamentary institutions, especially at a national level, were brand-new, so it was difficult for anyone to be labelled "conservative" in a traditional sense.[citation needed] The two largest political parties, theFree Trade Party and theProtectionist Party, could both loosely be described as "liberal" in the terms of the time. They were moderates with a strong belief in parliamentary institutions, financially orthodox and attached to theBritish Empire, with a distaste for radicalism. The third major political force was thetrade union movement represented by theAustralian Labor Party. The rise in popularity of the Labor Party became the major preoccupation of these two other parties.[citation needed]
In the early stages of the parliament, the Labor Party engaged in a partnership with the more radical Protectionists, but Labor's wide-ranging policies for social reform met with only lukewarm support from most Protectionists. Fear ofsocialism became widespread among the ranks[who?] of the establishment, and as the question of tariffs was settled, there was increasing pressure on the non-Labor parliamentary forces to unite in opposition to Labor.[dubious –discuss]
The result was theFusion in 1909, composed ofJoseph Cook'sAnti-Socialist Party (formerly Free Trade Party), and conservative Protectionists. The Fusion soon began calling itself theLiberal Party, proclaiming its adherence toclassical liberalism.[citation needed] After Deakin's departure, the fervent anti-socialistJoseph Cook became leader of the party and it became the dominantright-wing force in Australian politics.
The pattern of a non-Labor party defining itself asliberal rather thanconservative and deriving support from amiddle-class base continued to the formation of the present-dayLiberal Party, founded in 1945 and led initially bySir Robert Menzies.Malcolm Fraser, quoting from Menzies' memoir,Afternoon Light, described the decision to call the party "Liberal" in these terms,
We chose the word 'Liberal' because we want to be a progressive party, in no way conservative, in no way reactionary.[5]
However, previous Liberal Prime Minister,John Howard, is reported to have described himself the most conservative leader the Liberal Party had ever had.[6]
The "wet" (moderate)[citation needed] and "dry" (conservative)[citation needed] wings of the Liberal party co-operated fairly harmoniously[citation needed], but in the early 1970s as conservatives started to dominate inSouth Australia liberals led bySteele Hall broke off to form theLiberal Movement[citation needed]. In 1977, other dissident 'small-l liberal'[7][8] forces led byDon Chipp created theAustralian Democrats.
From the early 1990s, socialconservatism has characterised the Liberal Party's actions in Government and policy development.[9] FormerPrime MinisterJohn Howard in a 2005 speech described the modern position:[10]
The Liberal Party is a broad church. You sometimes have to get the builders in to put in the extra pew on both sides of the aisle to make sure that everybody is accommodated. But it is a broad church and we should never as members of the Liberal Party of Australia lose sight of the fact that we are the trustees of two great political traditions. We are, of course, the custodian of the classical liberal tradition within our society, Australian Liberals should revere the contribution of John Stuart Mill to political thought. We are also the custodians of the conservative tradition in our community. And if you look at the history of the Liberal Party it is at its best when it balances and blends those two traditions. Mill and Burke are interwoven into the history and the practice and the experience of our political party.
Federal "small-l liberals", such asJoe Hockey[11][12][dubious –discuss] andMalcolm Turnbull[13] were Cabinet ministers in the Howard government.Christopher Pyne[dubious –discuss],George Brandis[dubious –discuss] andBruce Billson[dubious –discuss] served in the outer ministry. In 2018, members of this grouping made up the substantial majority of senior cabinet and ministry positions in the government of small-l liberal Turnbull. At the state level, "small-l liberals" have substantial influence particularly in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
The Democrats, fractured under the leadership ofCheryl Kernot andNatasha Stott Despoja, moved to theleft. Party leaderMeg Lees formed the more avowedly centristAustralian Progressive Alliance in 2003. In 2002, Tasmanian Liberal candidateGreg Barns was disendorsed following comments opposing Government action taken over theTampa affair. Barns joined the Australian Democrats, with the view of returning a strong liberal platform to the party.
