Libertarian Party (Australia) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Libertarian Party
Abbreviation	LP LBT
President	Anthony Bull
Founder	John Humphreys
Founded	2001; 24 years ago (2001)
Registered	2007 (as LDP) 2024 (as Libertarian Party)
Headquarters	Mount Waverley, Melbourne, Victoria
Ideology	Libertarianism Right-libertarianism Conservatism Classical liberalism
Political position	Right-wing
International affiliation	International Alliance of Libertarian Parties
Colours	Burgundy      Yellow
House of Representatives	0 / 151
Senate	0 / 76
Victorian Legislative Council	1 / 40
New South Wales Legislative Council	1 / 42
Local government councillors (NSW)	10 / 1,480
Politics of Australia Political parties

Party logo used briefly between 2021 and 2022

The Libertarian Party (LP) is an Australian political party. It was once known as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The party started in Canberra in 2001.

The Libertarian Party believes in smaller government. They support ideas based on classical liberal and libertarian principles. These ideas include lower taxes and fewer rules on people's freedoms. They also support decentralisation, uranium mining, and relaxing smoking laws.

As of July 2024, the party is officially registered in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria. They are also registered to run in national elections with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

History of the Libertarian Party

How the Party Started

The Liberal Democratic Party began in 2001. It was first registered as a political party in the Australian Capital Territory. They first ran in the 2001 ACT election, getting 1 percent of the votes. In the 2004 ACT election, they received 1.3 percent of the votes.

In 2006, new laws made parties without members in parliament re-register. The party was told that their original name might be a problem because of the Liberal Party of Australia. So, in 2007, they chose to register nationally as the Liberty and Democracy Party. They ran in the 2007 national election. They won 17,048 votes (0.14 percent) for the lower house and 16,942 votes (0.13 percent) for the upper house.

In 2008, the party successfully changed its national name back to Liberal Democratic Party. During this time, they kept their original name in the Australian Capital Territory.

Early Elections and Wins

In the 2010 national election, the party received 1.8 percent of the national Senate vote. They also got about 1.3 percent of votes in the 21 lower house areas they ran in.

In 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party won its first election. Jeff Pettett became a Councillor for the Ku-ring-gai Council in Sydney. He won 24 percent of the vote. Clinton Mead also became a Councillor for the Campbelltown Council in Sydney.

In the 2013 national election, David Leyonhjelm from the LDP was elected to the Senate. He received the third-highest number of votes in New South Wales. Leyonhjelm believed some voters might have confused his party with other similar-sounding parties. However, he noted that the party's votes also increased in South Australia, where they were not listed first on the ballot. On 1 July 2014, David Leyonhjelm became the Liberal Democratic Party's first senator.

After Leyonhjelm's win, Liberal Democrats councillor Clinton Mead was elected Mayor of the City of Campbelltown in New South Wales.

In 2015, the Liberal Democrats registered in Victoria. They announced they would have candidates for the upper house in the Victorian state election on 29 November 2014.

David Leyonhjelm was re-elected in the 2016 national election. In March 2017, Aaron Stonehouse became the first LDP member elected in Western Australia.

In 2018, Tim Quilty and David Limbrick were elected to the Victorian Legislative Council (state upper house).

In 2019, David Leyonhjelm left national parliament to run in the New South Wales state election. Duncan Spender took his place for a short time. However, neither Leyonhjelm nor Spender won their elections in 2019.

In the 2020 Victorian local elections, two party candidates were elected. Olga Quilty won in Wodonga, and Paul Barker won in Torquay.

Recent Party Changes

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victorian MPs Quilty and Limbrick spoke out against the government's response. They protested park closures and refused to follow vaccine rules for MPs.

In August 2021, Campbell Newman, a former Premier of Queensland, joined the LDP. He ran as the party's main Senate candidate in Queensland for the 2022 Australian federal election.

On 23 November 2021, the LDP announced a deal with the United Australia Party. They would encourage their supporters to vote for each other as their second choice in elections.

On 8 April 2022, Senator Sam McMahon joined the party. She had left the Country Liberal Party. This gave the Liberal Democratic Party a member in the national parliament again. However, she was not re-elected, and the party lost its national parliamentary spot. The party was unregistered at the national level on 19 July 2022.

Changing the Party Name

Logo used from 2022 until the party rename

Election poster using the new party name and logo for the first time at the 2023 Mulgrave state by-election

Due to changes in election laws and an objection from the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party decided to change its name. In May 2023, members voted to adopt the new name "Libertarian Party." The party's logo now uses the abbreviation "LP."

In July 2023, all state branches of the party, except New South Wales, officially changed their names to the Libertarian Party. The national party registration under the new name was approved on 12 January 2024.

The party first ran under its new name in the Mulgrave state by-election in Victoria in November 2023. They also ran in the Dunkley by-election in March 2024.

What the Libertarian Party Believes In

The Libertarian Party (LP) believes in classical liberal ideas, small government, and laissez-faire (meaning less government involvement in the economy). They highly value individual freedom and individual responsibility. Here are some of their policies:

National Policies

• They are against government rules that limit personal freedoms.
• They support allowing citizens to start referendums (votes on specific issues).
• They want fixed terms for parliament and the ability to remove elected officials.
• They believe national budgets should be balanced, not having too much extra money or too much debt.
• They support a 20% flat rate income tax with the first $40,000 earned being tax-free.
• They support voluntary superannuation (retirement savings).
• They want to freeze and decentralise the minimum wage.
• They support using nuclear energy.
• They want to decentralise education.
• They support free speech and are against censorship, especially online.
• They are against mass surveillance and digital identities.

Other Policies and Views

• They want to end the "war on drugs".
• They support pill testing.
• They want to end "political correctness" and "nanny state" controls.
• They support competitive federalism and political decentralisation.
• They support a lot of privatisation (selling government businesses to private companies) and deregulation (removing government rules). This includes selling the ABC, SBS, Australia Post, and government-owned schools and hospitals.
• They want to greatly reduce taxes, fines, and government spending. This includes welfare, health, and the military.
• They support using ready-made products for defense when possible.
• They want to remove rules to make industries more competitive globally.
• They support free markets and free trade.
• They want the most efficient ways to create electricity, without ruling out any options.
• They prefer market-based solutions over government actions for climate change.
• They are against government subsidies for industries.
• They want to relax rules on foreign investment and ownership.
• They want to reform anti-dumping laws.
• They want to open up state forests and national parks for proper management and conservation.
• They support making it harder for immigrants to become Australian citizens.
• They want to maximise freedom of travel using an immigration tariff instead of quotas.
• They believe unauthorised arrivals should be held temporarily for checks.
• They want to remove taxes on alcohol and tobacco.
• They believe in equality before the law and are against affirmative action.
• They support property owners' rights.
• They support rights for motocross, cycling, fishing, bushwalking, hunting, logging, 4WD, and shooting.
• They are against government rules for food labelling based on religion.
• They want to make it legal to use things for self-defence, like pepper spray and tasers.
• They want to give states the power to collect income taxes again.
• They want the national government to stop being involved in health and education.
• They support Marriage privatisation (government getting out of marriage).
• They have some support for processing asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
• They want Sikh Australians to be exempt from mandatory helmet laws.
• They are against introducing laws for specific groups, like Sharia law.
• They are against government-funded foreign aid, except for short-term humanitarian relief. They prefer private charity.

Election Results

National Parliament

Senate

Election year	No. of overall votes	% of overall vote	No. of overall seats won	No. of overall seats	+/–
2007	16,942	0.13	0 / 40	0 / 76	—
2010	230,191	1.81	0 / 40	0 / 76	0
2013	523,831	3.91	1 / 40	1 / 76	1
2016	298,915	2.16	1 / 76	1 / 76	0
2019	169,735	1.16	0 / 40	0 / 76	1
2022	340,132	2.26	0 / 40	0 / 76	0

State Parliament

New South Wales

Legislative Council

Election year	No. of overall votes	% of overall vote	No. of overall seats	+/–
2019	96,999	2.18	0 / 42	—
2023	162,755	3.3	1 / 42	1

South Australia

Victoria

Legislative Council

Election year	No. of overall votes	% of overall vote	No. of overall seats	+/–
2014	104,516	3.06	0 / 40
2018	89,428	2.50	2 / 40	2
2022	99,054	2.64	1 / 40	1

Western Australia

Legislative Council

Election year	No. of overall votes	% of overall vote	No. of overall seats	+/–
2017	23,848	1.77	1 / 36	1
2021	9,218	0.64	0 / 36	1

People Elected from the Party

Currently Serving

State Level

Image	Name	Term	State	Office	Notes
		David Limbrick	22 June 2022 – present	VIC	Victorian Legislative Council (South-Eastern Metropolitan)	First in office from 2018 until April 2022
		John Ruddick	20 April 2023 – present	NSW	New South Wales Legislative Council	First Libertarian member of the NSW parliament

Local Level

Image	Name	Term	State	Office	Notes
		John Larter	17 July 2024 – present	NSW	Snowy Valleys Council	First elected in 2017, joined party while in office
		Paul Barker	October 2020 – present	VIC	Surf Coast Shire Council (Torquay Ward)
		Olga Quilty	October 2020 – present	VIC	Wodonga City Council
		Vince Ferreri	October 2024 - present	NSW	Camden Council (North)
		Rose Sicari	October 2024 - present	NSW	Camden Council (South)
		Michael Graham	October 2024 - present	NSW	Midcoast Council
		Phil Beazley	October 2024 - present	NSW	Midcoast Council
		Mal McKenzie	October 2024 - present	NSW	Midcoast Council
		Vanessa Pollak	October 2024 - present	NSW	Penrith City Council (South)
		Mark Hornshaw	October 2024 - present	NSW	Port Macquarie-Hastings Council
		Scott Yeomans	October 2024 - present	NSW	Singleton Council
		Gregory Harris	October 2024 - present	NSW	Upper Lachlan Shire Council

Previously Served

Federal Level

Image	Name	Term	Office	Notes
		David Leyonhjelm	1 July 2014 – 1 March 2019	Senator for New South Wales	Resigned to unsuccessfully contest 2019 New South Wales state election
		Duncan Spender	20 March 2019 – 30 June 2019	Senator for New South Wales	Replaced Leyonhjelm. Lost seat at 2019 election
		Sam McMahon	8 April 2022 – 20 May 2022	Senator for the Northern Territory	Joined party after leaving CLP. Lost seat at 2022 election

State Level

Image	Name	Term	State	Office	Notes
		Aaron Stonehouse	22 May 2017 – 21 May 2021	WA	Western Australian Legislative Council (South Metropolitan)	Lost seat at 2021 election
		Tim Quilty	24 November 2018 – 26 November 2022	VIC	Victorian Legislative Council (Northern Victoria)	Lost seat at 2022 election

Local Level

Image	Name	Term	State	Office	Notes
		Ben Buckley	October 2012 – October 2020	VIC	East Gippsland Shire Council
		Clinton Mead	8 September 2012 – 10 September 2016	NSW	Campbelltown City Council	Lost seat at 2016 election
		Jeff Pettett	8 September 2012 – 2017	NSW	Ku-ring-gai Council (Comenarra Ward)	Left party
		Tim Quilty	22 October 2016 – 12 December 2018	VIC	Wodonga City Council	Elected to Victorian Legislative Council in 2018
		Samuel Gunning	9 September 2017 – 4 December 2021	NSW	North Sydney Council (Wollstonecraft Ward)	Did not seek re-election in 2021

Images for kids

• 

  David Leyonhjelm, a former Senator for the party.

• 

  Aaron Stonehouse, a former member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.