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The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. It is descended from, but not legally the same as, the Democratic Labor Party which existed from 1955 to 1978, and which until 1974 played an important role in Australian politics. At the 2006 Victorian election, the new DLP won parliamentary representation for the first time when it won a seat in the Victorian Legislative Council. The old DLP was wound up in 1978, but a small group of DLP activists in Victoria formed a new DLP, which has contested Senate elections in Victoria at every election since 1984 and a number of Senate seats in other States in the 2007 Federal Election. In the 2007 Federal Election the Democratic Labor party received 115,966 first preference senate votes nationally. This included 52,977 senate votes for NSW, which was more than the Democrats and more than Family First.[1]. It contested the 2008 Mayo by-election and Lyne byelections, neither of which were contested by the ALP.[2] DLP has re-formed state parties in Queensland (2007) and NSW (2008) with a view to reregistering for and contesting state and local elections. The state secretary for NSW, Michael O’Donoghue,[3] a school teacher and trade union delegate, was the DLP candidate for the Lyne by-election and received 1.15% of the primary vote. The secretary for Qld is Tony Zegenhagen.[4] At the 2004 Federal Election, the DLP received 58,042 first preference, or 1.94% of all votes, in the Victorian Senate election.[5] These votes assisted in the election of Steve Fielding from Family First to the Senate, even though the DLP vote was higher than the Family First vote. It also contested the federal divisions of Ballarat,[6] and McMillan.[7] The DLP contested the 2006 Victorian State Election, fielding candidates in the eight regions of the reformed Legislative Council, where proportional representation gave the party the best chance of having members elected. It polled 1.97% of the first preference[8] vote. However, in two regions it polled higher, with 2.70% in Western Victoria and 5.11% in Northern Metropolitan. This was enough to elect one member, Peter Kavanagh, on ALP preferences in Western Victoria Region. They briefly looked set to have a second member, party leader John Mulholland, elected in Northern Metropolitan, but this result was overturned after a recount.
[edit] Politics of the DLPThe party has a comprehensive policy platform, and Peter Kavanagh has referred to the heritage of the historic Democratic Labor Party, saying that "The DLP remains the only political party in Australia which is pro-family, pro-life and genuinely pro-worker."[9] The DLP website[10] claims to be not “left” or “right” but centre-“decentralist”. The DLP’s stated principles are “democracy”, “liberty” and “peace”. Its policies promote:
These policies are not dissimilar to the five primacies of the National Civic Council (NCC), however the DLP does not regard itself as a Catholic or Christian party as such. An examination of its policies indicate that the DLP is opposed to libertarianism in the form of economic rationalism (neo-liberalism) and in the form of “progressive” social liberalism. Following the election of DLP candidate Peter Kavanagh, attention has been given to the DLP platform of opposition to abortion and poker machines and its concern to deal with HIV/AIDS health risks associated with homosexual practice. [11] The party's policies include a Progressive Expenditure Tax (with no tax payable on any income that is saved or invested), Universal Living Allowance tied to basic per capita living costs, rejection of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other taxes for general revenue that it views as regressive, federal funding for the education of students attending non-government schools to be based on an equitable distribution and increased diversification in overseas trade to broaden the base for growth, and opposition to abortion, euthanasia, therapeutic cloning and same-sex marriage. The former DLP had the patronage of the Catholic Church in Victoria, but not in NSW. The new party does not have the patronage of the Catholic Church but still has support among Catholics[citation needed], although its support base has broadened to include Protestants and those who are not Christians but who agree with its historic Labor principles, and its other social and economic policies. [edit] Alleged internal dissentIn late August 2009, the Melbourne Age reported that the DLP was facing several internal divisions between Kavanagh's faction, which also sought to include evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants within the party, and 'hardline' conservative Catholics. Right to Life Australia President Marcel White and a close associate, Peter McBroom, were reported to be emphasising Catholic doctrinal and devotional concerns, like Marian apparitions, Catholic prayer, telling the rosary and campaigns against contraception. Reportedly, Kavanagh may leave the organisation if the current 'hardline' elements triumph within the Victorian DLP. [12] [edit] References
[edit] External links
8 Outsider’s blog showing some history [2] | |||||||||||||||||
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