Protectionist Party Liberal Protectionist Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader |
|
| Founded | 7 October 1887; 138 years ago (1887-10)[1][2] |
| Dissolved | May 1909; 116 years ago (1909-05) |
| Merged into | Liberal |
| Headquarters | Pitt Street,Sydney, New South Wales |
| Ideology |
|
| Political position | Centre[7] |
| Colours | Blue |
| House of Representatives | 31 / 75 (1901–1903) |
| Senate | 11 / 36 (1901–1903) |
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | 66 / 137 (1889–1891) |
| Part ofa series on |
| Liberalism in Australia |
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TheProtectionist Party, also known as theProtectionist Liberal Party orLiberal Protectionist Party, was anAustralian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred onprotectionism. The party advocated protectivetariffs, arguing it would allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength inVictoria and in the rural areas ofNew South Wales. Its most prominent leaders wereSir Edmund Barton andAlfred Deakin, who were the first and secondprime ministers of Australia.
The party was initially centred onNew South Wales, where its leaders wereGeorge Dibbs andWilliam Lyne. It dominated New South Wales colonial politics beforefederation. It first contested the1887 New South Wales election.
On the commencement of theCommonwealth of Australia,Governor-General-designate,The 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appointed Edmund Barton (after theHopetoun Blunder), leader of the Protectionist Party, to head acaretaker government from 1 January 1901 until the election of a Parliament. At the firstfederal election in 1901, the Protectionists won 31 of the 75 seats in theHouse of Representatives. Barton was able to form theBartonminority government with the support of theLabour Party led byChris Watson, which held the balance of power with 14 seats, on the understanding that the Protectionists would implement a number of social reforms desired by Labour. Labour's program, however, was frequently too radical for many Protectionists, creating internal conflict between those who, likeH. B. Higgins, were sympathetic to Labour, while conservatives likeAllan McLean preferred to support theFree Trade Party.
On 25 August 1903, legislation to set up theHigh Court of Australia consisting of three judges was finally passed.[8] Barton resigned his party leadership position on 24 September 1903 to be replaced by Deakin who then formed thefirst Deakin government. Then, on 5 October 1903, Deakin appointed Barton, as well as the party's Senate leader,Richard O'Connor, to be justices of the High Court, before calling the1903 federal election for December and going into caretaker government mode. At the election, the number of seats won by the Protectionists declined to 26 while Labour's increased to 22, but Labour continued its policy of supporting a minority Deakin Protectionist government.
After a falling-out in April 1904 between Labour's Watson and Deakin, Deakin resigned office. Free Trade leaderGeorge Reid declined to take office, leaving Watson and Labour to form its first minority government, which lasted for four months. In August 1904, Reid was able to form a Free Trade government with Protectionist support. Reid's government lasted until 5 July 1905, when the Protectionists and Labour reconciled, and the previous arrangement was restored, with the formation of thesecond Deakin government. On 12 October 1906, the size of the High Court was increased to five justices, and Deakin appointed prominent Protectionists Higgins andIsaac Isaacs to the High Court to get them out of politics, but they were qualified for the judicial position, as they had been lawyers. Higgins was Attorney-General in the Labour government of 1904 (Labour did not have a lawyer to appoint), and Isaacs was Attorney-General in 1905 in the Deakin government. The Free Trade Party recognised that the issue of tariffs had been settled and that the main issue was the Labour resurgence. Before the1906 federal election, held in December, it changed its name to theAnti-Socialist Party. At the election, the Protectionists, whose protectionist policies were by then redundant, won only 16 seats to Labour's 26, but Labour still led by Watson continued to support Deakin who formed the well knownthird Deakin Protectionist government.
Labour now underAndrew Fisher withdrew its support of the Deakin government on 13 November 1908 and formed a minority government. The Fisher government passed a large number of its legislation. A scandalised establishment, believing an anti-socialist alliance was necessary to counter Labor's growing electoral dominance, pressured Deakin and Anti-Socialist Party's new leader,Joseph Cook, to begin merger talks. The more liberal Protectionists opposed a merger. The party wound up splitting as a result. The main body, including Deakin and his supporters, merged with the Anti-Socialist Party in May 1909 to become theCommonwealth Liberal Party (CLP), popularly known as "the Fusion Party", with Deakin as leader and Cook as deputy leader. The more liberal Protectionists defected to Labour. Deakin and the new CLP now held a majority on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Fisher government fell in a vote on 27 May 1909. Fisher failed to persuade the Governor-GeneralLord Dudley to dissolve Parliament.[9] The Deakin CLP government was in power for less than a year until the1910 election, where Labour under Fisher formed Australia's first elected federal majority government, and the first elected Senate majority, winning 42 of the 75 seats in the House of Representatives to the Liberal's 31. Deakin retired from Parliament in April 1913 and Cook took over the Liberal leadership before the calling of the1913 election. The Liberals under Cook won government in 1913 by a single seat, however, Labor retained a Senate majority. Cook called adouble dissolution, the first time one would be called. When the Senate rejected a bill twice, Cook called the1914 election. The election had been called before the declaration of war in August 1914, and the campaign was conducted with the caretaker government going onto a war footing. At the election, the Liberals were soundly defeated with another Labor majority in both houses.
While the party itself disappeared into history, many of its key legislative initiatives, such as theWhite Australia policy and tariff protection for industry, were maintained by successive Australian governments for a large part of the 20th century. However, Labor could also take credit or be blamed (as the case may be) as many of the bills were passed during the Protectionist-Labour minority governments as part of Labour's agreement for supporting a Protectionist government.
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 185,943 (#1) | 36.75 | 31 / 75 | – | |
| 1903 | 214,091 (#3) | 29.70 | 26 / 75 |  5 | |
| 1906 | 156,425 (#3) | 16.44 | 16 / 75 | 10 |
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,197,723 (#1) | 44.86 | 11 / 36 | – | |
| 1903 | 503,586 (#3) | 17.53 | 8 / 36 | 3 | |
| 1906 | 369,308 (#3) | 12.41 | 6 / 36 | 2 |
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1887 | 42,354 (#2) | 32.89 | 37 / 124 | – | |
| 1889 | 77,468 (#1) | 51.37 | 66 / 137 |  29 | |
| 1891 | 65,866 (#1) | 32.6 | 52 / 141 | 14 | |
| 1894 | 55,652 (#2) | 27.69 | 37 / 125 | 15 | |
| 1895 | 50,703 (#2) | 33.43 | 42 / 125 | 5 | |
| 1898 | 76,161 (#1) | 43.03 | 52 / 125 | 10 |
