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This article lists political parties in Australia.

The Australian federal parliament has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, with full-preference instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the Australian House of Representatives, and the use of the single transferable vote to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate.

Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 6 of the 150 members of the lower house (Members of Parliament, or MPs) are not members of major parties, as are 19 of the 76 members of the upper house (senators).

Other parties tend to perform better in the upper houses of the various federal and state parliament since these typically use a form of proportional representation.

Federal parties

Federal parliamentary parties

Two political groups dominate the Australian political spectrum, forming a de facto two-party system. One is the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a centre-left party which is formally linked to the Australian labour movement. Formed in 1893, it has been a major party federally since 1901, and has been one of the two major parties since the 1910 federal election. The ALP is in government in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

The other group is a conservative grouping of parties that are in coalition at the federal level, as well as in New South Wales, but compete in Western Australia and South Australia. The main party in this group is the center-right Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is the modern form of a conservative grouping that has existed since the fusion of the Protectionist Party and Free Trade Party into the Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1909. Although this group has changed its nomenclature, there has been a general continuity of MPs and structure between different forms of the party. Its modern form was founded by Robert Menzies in 1944. The party's philosophy is generally liberal conservatism.

Every elected prime minister of Australia since 1910 has been a member of either the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, or one of the Liberal Party's previous incarnations (the Commonwealth Liberal Party, the Nationalist Party of Australia, or the United Australia Party).

The Liberal Party is joined by the National Party, a party that seeks to represent rural interests, especially agricultural ones. The Nationals contest a limited number of seats and do not generally directly compete with the Liberal Party. Its ideology is generally more socially conservative than that of the Liberal Party. In 1987, the National Party made an abortive run for the office of prime minister in its own right, in the Joh for Canberra campaign. However, it has generally not aspired to become the majority party in the coalition, and it is generally understood that the prime minister of Australia will be a member of either the Labor or Liberal parties. On two occasions (involving Earle Page in 1939, and John McEwen from December 1967 to January 1968), the deputy prime minister, the leader of the National Party (then known as the Country Party), became the prime minister temporarily, upon the death of the incumbent prime minister. Arthur Fadden was the only other Country Party, prime minister. He assumed office in August 1941 after the resignation of Robert Menzies and served as prime minister until October of that year.

The Liberal and National parties have merged in Queensland and the Northern Territory, although the resultant parties are different. The Liberal National Party of Queensland, formed in 2008, is a branch of the Liberal Party, but it is affiliated with the Nationals and members elected to federal parliament may sit as either Liberals or Nationals. The Country Liberal Party was formed in 1978 when the Northern Territory gained responsible government. It is a separate member of the federal coalition, but it is affiliated with the two major members and its president has voting rights in the National Party. The name refers to the older name of the National Party.

Federally, these parties are collectively known as the Coalition. The Coalition has existed continually (between the Nationals and their predecessors, and the Liberals and their predecessors) since 1923, with minor breaks in 1940, 1973, and 1987.

Historically, support for either the Coalition or the Labor Party was often viewed as being based on social class, with the upper and middle classes supporting the Coalition and the working class supporting Labor. This has been a less important factor since the 1970s and 1980s when the Labor Party gained a significant bloc of middle-class support and the Coalition gained a significant bloc of working-class support.^[1]

The two-party duopoly has been relatively stable, with the two groupings (Labor and Coalition) gaining at least 70% of the primary vote in every election since 1910 (including the votes of autonomous state parties). Third parties have only rarely received more than 10% of the vote for the Australian House of Representatives in a federal election, such as the Australian Democrats in the 1990 election and the Australian Greens in 2010, and 2016.

Federal non-parliamentary parties

Parties listed in alphabetical order as of 24 February 2019:^[2][3]

State parties

New South Wales

Divisions of the federal parties:^[5]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
The Coalition
	Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division)	Liberals	Gladys Berejiklian	Liberal conservatism	36 / 93	13 / 42
	National Party of Australia – NSW	National	John Barilaro	Conservatism Agrarianism	16 / 93	7 / 42
	Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch)	Labor, ALP	Luke Foley	Social democracy	34 / 93	14 / 42
	Greens NSW	Greens	Collective leadership	Green politics	3 / 93	5 / 42
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	SFF	Robert Brown	Conservatism Gun rights	1 / 93	2 / 42
	Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)	CDP	Paul Green	National conservatism Christian right	0 / 93	2 / 42
	Animal Justice Party	Animal Justice	Mark Pearson	Animal rights	0 / 93	1 / 42
	Country Labor Party	Country Labor		Social democracy	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Voluntary Euthanasia Party (NSW)	Voluntary Euthanasia	Shayne Higson	Legalised euthanasia	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Flux Party (NSW)	Flux	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Socialist Alliance		Collective leadership	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Building Australia Party	Building Australia		Building industry advocacy	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Keep Sydney Open			Anti-lockout laws	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Australian Conservatives (NSW)	Conservatives		Conservatism Social conservatism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal Democrats		Libertarianism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	One Nation, PHON	Mark Latham	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Sustainable Australia (NSW)			Lower immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Small Business Party	Small Business		Small business advocacy	0 / 93	0 / 42

Victoria

Divisions of the federal parties^[6]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)	Labor, ALP	Daniel Andrews	Social democracy	55 / 88	18 / 40
The Coalition
	Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division)	Liberal	Michael O'Brien	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	21 / 88	10 / 40
	National Party of Australia – Victoria	National	Peter Walsh	Conservatism Agrarianism	6 / 88	1 / 40
	Australian Greens Victoria	Greens	Samantha Ratnam	Green politics	3 / 88	1 / 40
	Derryn Hinch's Justice Party	Justice	Stuart Grimley	Justice reform Anti-paedophilia	0 / 88	2 / 40
	Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal Democrats		Libertarianism	0 / 88	2 / 40
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (Victoria)	SFF		Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Fiona Patten's Reason Party	Reason	Fiona Patten	Civil libertarianism	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Sustainable Australia			Lower immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Animal Justice Party	Animal Justice		Animal rights	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Transport Matters Party	Transport Matters		Taxi industry advocacy	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Victorian Socialists	Socialists	Collective leadership	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Australian Conservatives – Victorian Branch	Conservatives		Conservatism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Australian Country Party	Country		Australian nationalism Economic nationalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Democratic Labour Party	DLP		Social conservatism Christian democracy	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Socialist Alliance (Victoria)		Collective leadership	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Health Australia Party	Health Australia		Naturopathy Anti-vaccination	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Voluntary Euthanasia Party (Victoria)	Voluntary Euthanasia		Legalised euthanasia	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Aussie Battler Party	Aussie Battler		Australian nationalism Populism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Hudson for Northern Victoria	H4NV	Josh Hudson	Regionalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Vote 1 Local Jobs	Local Jobs	James Purcell	Regionalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Australian Liberty Alliance	Liberty Alliance		Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	One Nation, PHON		Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 88	0 / 40

Queensland

As of the Queensland Electoral Commission:^[7]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)	Labor, ALP	Annastacia Palaszczuk	Social democracy	48 / 93
	Liberal National Party of Queensland	LNP	Deb Frecklington	Liberal conservatism	39 / 93
	Katter's Australian Party	KAP	Robbie Katter	Australian nationalism Economic nationalism	3 / 93
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	One Nation	Steve Dickson	Right-wing populism Anti-immigration	1 / 93
	Queensland Greens	Greens	Michael Berkman	Green politics	1 / 93
	Flux Party Queensland	Flux	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 93
	Civil Liberties, Consumer Rights, No-Tolls	No-Tolls	Jeffrey Hodges	Public ownership	0 / 93

Western Australia

As of the Western Australian Electoral Commission:^[8]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (WA Branch)	Labor, ALP	Mark McGowan	Social democracy	40 / 59	14 / 36
	Liberal Party of Australia (WA Division)	Liberal	Mike Nahan	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	14 / 59	9 / 36
	National Party of Australia (WA)	Nationals	Mia Davies	Conservatism Agrarianism	5 / 59	4 / 36
	Greens WA	Greens		Green politics	0 / 59	4 / 36
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	One Nation, PHON	Colin Tincknell	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 59	3 / 36
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (WA) Inc	SFF		Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 59	1 / 36
	Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal Democrats		Libertarianism	0 / 59	1 / 36
	Australian Christians (WA)	Christians		Conservatism Christian right	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Animal Justice Party	Animal Justice		Animal rights	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Socialist Alliance WA		Collective leadership	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Flux Party WA	Flux	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Daylight Saving Party	Daylight Savings	Wilson Tucker	Daylight savings advocacy	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Fluoride Free WA	Fluoride Free	Anne Porter	Anti-fluoridation	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Western Australia Party	WAP	Julie Matheson	Regionalism Centrism	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Small Business Party		John Golawski	Small business advocacy	0 / 59	0 / 36

South Australia

List of parties:^[9]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MHAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division)	Liberals	Steven Marshall	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	25 / 47	9 / 22
	Australian Labor Party (SA Branch)	Labor, ALP	Peter Malinauskas	Social democracy	19 / 47	8 / 22
	Greens SA	Greens	Mark Parnell	Green politics	0 / 47	2 / 22
	Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST	SA-BEST	Nick Xenophon	Centrism Social liberalism	0 / 47	2 / 22
	Advance SA		John Darley	Centrism	0 / 47	1 / 22
	National Party of Australia (SA)	National		Conservatism Agrarianism	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal Democrats		Libertarianism	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Animal Justice Party	Animal Justice		Animal rights	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Australian Conservatives (SA)	Conservatives		Conservatism Social conservatism	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Dignity Party	Dignity	Kelly Vincent	Equal rights	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Danig Party	Danig			0 / 47	0 / 22
	Stop Population Growth Now		Bob Couch	Anti-immigration	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Child Protection Party	Child Protection	Tony Tonkin		0 / 47	0 / 22

Tasmania

As of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:^[10]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MHAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division)	Liberals	Will Hodgman	Liberal conservatism	13 / 25	2 / 15
	Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch)	Labor	Rebecca White	Social democracy	10 / 25	4 / 15
	Tasmanian Greens	Greens	Cassy O'Connor	Green politics	2 / 25	0 / 15
	Jacqui Lambie Network	JLN	Jacqui Lambie	Populism Regionalism	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Shooters and Fishers Party Tasmania	SFF		Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Socialist Alliance		Collective leadership	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Australian Christians	Christians		Conservatism Christian right	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Tasmanians 4 Tasmania	T4T		Populism Protectionism	0 / 25	0 / 15

Australian Capital Territory

As listed with the ACT Electoral Commission.^[11]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch)	Labor, ALP	Andrew Barr	Social democracy	12 / 25
	Liberal Party of Australia (ACT Branch)	Liberals	Alistair Coe	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	11 / 25
	ACT Greens	Greens	Shane Rattenbury	Green politics	2 / 25
	Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal Democrats		Libertarianism	0 / 25
	Animal Justice Party	Animal Justice		Animal rights	0 / 25
	Flux Party (ACT)	Flux	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 25
	Sustainable Australia (ACT)			Lower immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism[12]	0 / 25
	Canberra Community Voters			Anti-monopoly	0 / 25
	The Community Alliance Party (ACT)				0 / 25

Northern Territory

As of the Northern Territory Electoral Commission:^[13]

Name		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (NT Branch)	Labor, ALP	Michael Gunner	Social democracy	18 / 25
	Country Liberal Party	Country Liberals	Garry Higgins	Liberal conservatism Agrarianism	2 / 25
	Greens NT	Greens		Green politics	0 / 25
	SFF			Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 25
	Citizens Electoral Council (NT Division)	CEC		LaRouche movement	0 / 25
	1 Territory Party		Braedon Earley	Regionalism	0 / 25

Unregistered

These are Australian political parties which are no longer registered with any federal, state or territory political bodies, and can thus no longer contest elections. However, they still remain active in electoral politics through running candidates under a local government party, as independents, or as members of an electoral alliance. For parties that are unregistered and are no longer actively involved in electoral politics, see the list of historical political parties

Parties listed in alphabetical order:

See also

• Politics of Australia


• List of historical political parties in Australia


• List of political parties by country

Notes

References