Definition of terms

For the handful of people who read this blog from overseas, some of the Australian political party names I mention might conjure a false image. For instance, when I completely rubbish the Liberal Party, you might think I come across as some Anne Coulter type rubbishing small 'l' liberals.

Allow me to make clear the sheer hypocrisy of the naming of Australia's political parties.


The Liberal Party: The Liberal Party used to be socially moderate/progressive, but economically conservative. Sadly they began a slide to fully conservative, if not often reactionary social politics, as well as the worst inanities of modern conservative economics. The Liberal Party in Australia is right wing conservative, not liberal. Similar to: Conservatives under Thatcher in the UK, US Republicans. RIGHT WING.


The Australian Labor Party (ALP): The Labor Party grew out of the trade union movement and historically were advocates of worker's rights. Today they care as much about unions and other workers as any other political party, ie fuck all. They went from some pretty radical policies to some pretty lacklustre and stale ones, and are now dominated by a homophobic, right-wing core. The Labor Party in Australia is right of centre, and is not especially interested in the union movement. Similar to the UK Labour Party under Tony Blair, and some US Democrats. RIGHT OF CENTRE.

The National Party: Together with the Liberal Party, they form The Coalition, the party in Opposition. The National Party was formed to answer the concerns of rural and regional Australia. After siding with the Liberal Party because they share a socially reactionary policy platform, to strengthen the voting power of both, the Nationals have had dwindling support in their rural and regional electorates. This is largely because the Liberals use them for numbers, while paying only the most meagre of lip services to their policy requirements. The Nationals are not truly 'national', representing mainly the white people of the more remote outer communities. Their social policies tend to the conservative. SOCIALLY RIGHT WING.

The Democrats: The Democrats were founded with the intention of 'keeping the bastards honest'. They adhered to moderate, lightly left of centre principles and had a stated intention of acting as a check and balance to stop Liberal and Labor getting too out of control. After a series of shady deals with the Howard government, they started to lose credibility and today are mostly a dinosaur. The Democrats were democratic, only in originally trying to keep our government honest, but became shady power brokers instead, so ended up about as Star Chamber anti-democratic as you can get. They started out mostly moderate, but ended up with no real ideology. Some members defected to The Greens. ORIGINALLY SORT OF LEFT WING, THEN NO IDEOLOGY.

Family First: Family First tried to sound like one of those touchy-feely concerned parents groups. In reality they were a cabal of anti-science, climate-denialist, anti-equality, hardcore Christians. They were also occasionally accused of links to the American white supremacist LaRouche. They were a one-joke party whose rep was permanently damaged by their semi-literate senator, Steven Fielding, whose homophobia and frothing disregard for science made him somewhat of a laughing stock. The party is a ghost of its former 'glory'. 'Family First' as long as that family is a traditional heterosexual nuclear family, who think the earth is 6,000 years old and flat, and that the Bible is a history textbook. Family First are far right, and can be compared easily to the social stance of the US Tea Party. RIGHT WING.

One Nation: A clutch of semi-moronic, ignorant racists, headed by the notorious moron Pauline Hanson. They fade in and out but are rarely any more than a blip in the news cycle. Achieved prominence soon after their formation with the racist waffle of Hanson and the tacit championing of their divisive message of hatred by then Prime Minister John Howard. 'One Nation' sure, unless you're Asian, African, Islander, Indigenous Australian, or a European who still speaks the language of the old country, in which case it's not your 'one nation'. One Nation are/were avowedly far right wing, and have an explicit racist agenda. FAR RIGHT WING.

The Greens: Originally a small group of environmentalists headed by Bob Brown, The Greens - due to an absolute dearth of leftist politics in the Australian political landscape - have become the default catch-all progressive party in Australia. They used to strictly be a Senate presence, but in the last election gained their first MP in the lower house, and reports came in that The Greens may have earned as high as 14% of the primary vote in the election, before having that number crunched due to preferences and the peculiar way we count votes. The Greens are not just Green anymore, though it still remains the core of their policy. Australia's ONLY party that is not right wing, far right wing or right of centre. The only party singled out for destruction shamelessly and publicly by Rupert Murdoch's The Australian newspaper. LEFT WING, or if you read the Murdoch press, CRAZED COMMUNIST INDUSTRY-DESTROYING, BABY-EATING LEFT.

 So, pity Australia. We have one party, ONE, that is not right wing in some way.