105-640: The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement , both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's largest minor party from its formation in 1977 through to 2004 and frequently held the balance of power in the Senate during that time. The Democrats' inaugural leader
210-566: A grey face" led by John Major , and the anti-neoliberalism of Mexican president Vicente Fox . The centre-left adopted Third Way policies, emphasising that it was neither left nor right but pragmatic . This adopted ideas popular among the centre-right, including balanced budgets and low taxes. Among these movements were British New Labour led by Tony Blair . Social democratic parties became more accepting of supply-side economics , austerity policies, and reduction of welfare programs. Some authoritarian powers, such as China and Russia, resisted
315-700: A larger middle class. Following the pink tide that saw several left-wing politicians take office, those in democratic nations adopted relatively moderate policies, including Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Mauricio Funes in El Salvador, and Tabaré Vázquez and José Mujica in Uruguay. These nations implemented the Washington Consensus , which mixed deregulation and privatisation with
420-593: A major European centrist movement in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The eugenics associated with the Holocaust caused centrists to abandon scientific racism in favour of anti-racism . Centrism became more influential after the dissolution of the Soviet Union as it spread through Europe and the Americas, but it declined in favour of populism after the 2007–2008 financial crisis . As with all ideological groups,
525-430: A party ombudsman and membership ballot. Policies determined by the unique participatory method promoted environmental awareness and sustainability , opposition to the primacy of economic rationalism (Australian neoliberalism ), preventative approaches to human health and welfare, animal rights, rejection of nuclear technology and weapons. The Australian Democrats were the first representatives of green politics at
630-449: A party's ideological stance. Conversely, some centrist parties will only be challenged from one direction instead of facing both left-wing and right-wing challengers, preventing it from taking its typical location in the middle of a party system. What constitutes the middle of a political system is unique to each nation, while ideological centrism is a political stance that exists internationally. Coalition building typically occurs around
735-509: A plurality in most European countries. Janine Haines Janine Winton Haines , AM (née Carter ; 8 May 1945 – 20 November 2004) was an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1981 to 1990. She represented the Australian Democrats , and served as the party's leader from 1986 to 1990, becoming the first female federal parliamentary leader of an Australian political party. She
840-490: A political system designed to encourage centrism in an ethnically divided nation as it transitioned away from colonial rule in 1965. Each voter was to vote for four candidates, each for a distinct ethnic group. This failed to produce a centrist government, as in effect it solidified the ethnic division in government. As post-colonial party systems developed in the Middle East, the influence of one-party states varied. Parties like
945-569: A political system, opposing the right's adherence to the status quo and the left's support for radical change. Support for a middle class is a defining trait of centrism, holding that it is preferable to reactionary or revolutionary politics. In contemporary politics, centrists generally support a liberal welfare state . Centrist coalitions are associated with larger welfare programs, but they are generally less inclusive than those organised under social democratic governments. Centrists may support some redistributive policies , but they oppose
1050-686: A seat in the lower house . Due to the party's numbers in the Senate, both Liberal and Labor governments required the assistance of the Democrats to pass contentious legislation. Ideologically, the Democrats were usually regarded as centrists , occupying the political middle ground between the Liberal Party and the Labor Party. Over three decades, the Australian Democrats also achieved representation in
1155-509: A senator for Victoria by Janet Powell . At the 1987 election following a double dissolution , the reduced quota of 7.7% necessary to win a seat assisted the election of three new senators. Six-year terms were won by Paul McLean (NSW) and incumbents Janine Haines (South Australia) and Janet Powell (Victoria). In South Australia, a second senator, John Coulter , was elected for a three-year term, as were incumbent Michael Macklin (Queensland) and Jean Jenkins (Western Australia). 1990 saw
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#17328455906011260-412: A side, causing political instability . Maurice Duverger argued that politics naturally drifts away from the centre into a two-party system and that a centrist party is an unnatural combination of the centre-left and centre-right. Giovanni Sartori argued that centrism is the default in a political system, but that the existence of a centrist party prevents the left and the right from moving toward
1365-535: A strong position in forming coalition governments as they can accommodate both left-wing and right-wing parties, but they are often junior partners in these coalitions that are unable to enact their own policies. These parties are weaker in first-past-the-post voting and proportional representation systems. Parties and politicians have various incentives to move toward or away from the centre, depending on how they seek votes. Some populist parties take centrist positions, basing their political position on opposition to
1470-798: Is a coincidental timing almost between the passing of Don Chipp and what I think is the death throes of the Democrats." In November 2006, the Australian Democrats fared very poorly in the Victorian state election, receiving a Legislative Council vote tally of only 0.83%, less than half of the party's result in 2002 (1.79 per cent). The Democrats again had no success at the 2007 federal election , and lost all four of their remaining Senate seats. Two incumbent senators, Lyn Allison (Victoria) and Andrew Bartlett (Queensland), were defeated, their seats both reverting to major parties. Their two remaining colleagues, Andrew Murray (WA) and Natasha Stott Despoja (SA), retired. All four senators' terms expired on 30 June 2008—leaving
1575-438: Is a form of centrism defined by its rejection of the left–right dichotomy or of ideology in general. Liberal scepticism and neo-republicanism can both be elements of radical centrism. Third Way politics is a radical centrist approach taken by centre-left parties to find a middle ground between capitalism and socialism . Though populism is commonly associated with strong left-wing or right-wing beliefs, centrist populism
1680-603: Is commonly associated with the political centre. Both left-leaning and right-leaning variants of liberalism may be grouped within a broader understanding of centrism. In Europe, left-leaning liberalism emphasises social liberalism and is more common in nations with strong conservative movements, while right-leaning liberalism emphasises economic liberalism and is more common in nations with strong Christian democratic movements. Social liberalism combines centrist economic positions with progressive stances on social and cultural issues. Left-leaning liberalism generally sits closer to
1785-464: Is critical of the political system independently of social, economic, and cultural issues. Centrist populist parties often do not have a strong ideological component, instead making anti-establishment politics the core of their message to capitalise on voter dissatisfaction and receive protest votes . These parties are most common in Central and Eastern Europe. Centrism advocates gradual change within
1890-462: Is no member of that party available to be chosen or appointed". The casual vacancy arose following the resignation of Steele Hall who had been elected as a representative of the former Liberal Movement . Controversially, Dunstan chose to nominate Haines, who had been third on the Liberal Movement ticket from which Hall had been elected in 1975. Haines was not a member of the Liberal Movement at
1995-467: Is typically a junior partner that has little ability to enact its own policy goals. Party systems with a strong centrist element are associated with lower interparty conflict. The overall effect of centrist parties on a political system is a subject of debate in political science, and it is not always clear whether they encourage or discourage political polarisation, or whether they benefit or suffer from it. One unanswered question in political philosophy
2100-412: Is whether centrist parties create centripetal or centrifugal party systems. When centrist parties exert a centripetal force on other parties, it causes left-wing and right-wing parties to move closer to the centre and creates political stability . Alternatively, they may exert a centrifugal force in which left-wing and right-wing parties move away from the centre to pressure the centrist party into choosing
2205-420: Is widely accepted in political science , radical groups that oppose centrist ideologies may sometimes describe them as leftist or rightist. Centrist parties typically hold the middle position between major left-wing and right-wing parties, though in some cases they will hold the left-leaning or right-leaning vote if there are no viable parties in the given direction. Centrist parties in multi-party systems hold
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#17328455906012310-608: The 2024 Dunkley by-election . The party was founded on principles of honesty, tolerance, compassion and direct democracy through postal ballots of all members, so that "there should be no hierarchical structure ... by which a carefully engineered elite could make decisions for the members." From the outset, members' participation was fiercely protected in national and divisional constitutions prescribing internal elections, regular meeting protocols, annual conferences—and monthly journals for open discussion and balloting. Dispute resolution procedures were established, with final recourse to
2415-692: The Arab Socialist Union in Egypt and the General People's Congress in Yemen acted as restraints on political elites to keep them from deviating from the political centre. Anwar Sadat became president of Egypt, and in 1976 he split the ruling Arab Socialist Union into three parties based on its left, centre, and right factions. Rule was maintained through what became the centrist National Democratic Party , effectively controlling Egyptian politics and marginalising
2520-451: The Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement . The two groups found a common basis for a new political movement in the widespread discontent with the two major parties. Former Liberal minister Don Chipp agreed to lead the new party. The party's broad aim was to achieve a balance of power in one or more parliaments and to exercise it responsibly in line with policies determined by membership. The first Australian Democrat parliamentarian
2625-532: The Australian Labor Party . (Five years later it was revealed that she had been in a sexual relationship with Labor deputy leader Gareth Evans ). Kernot resigned from the Senate and was replaced by Andrew Bartlett , while deputy Meg Lees became the new party leader. Under Lees' leadership, in the 1998 federal election , the Democrats' candidate John Schumann came within 2 per cent of taking Liberal Foreign Minister Alexander Downer 's seat of Mayo in
2730-646: The Colorado Party of Uruguay. Christian democracy, usually a conservative movement, serves a similar role in Latin America as its opposition to more rightward politics moves it toward a centrist or centre-left position. Some political parties label themselves as centrist but do not hold centrist positions. These are typically more right-wing parties such as the centre-right Union of the Democratic Centre in Spain and
2835-518: The Liberal Movement and the short-lived New LM which merged into the Australian Democrats in 1977. She was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate by the Parliament of South Australia , on the nomination of Labor premier Don Dunstan , on 14 December 1977. As a result of the 1977 Referendum the appointment was required to be from the same party as the resigning Senator, "unless there
2940-463: The left–right political spectrum . It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policies and people who are not strongly aligned with left-wing or right-wing policies. Centrism is commonly associated with liberalism , radical centrism , and agrarianism . Those who identify as centrist support gradual political change, often through a welfare state with moderate redistributive policies . Though its placement
3045-419: The 1950s and 1960s, this declined to approximately 15% by 2020. Centrist dictatorships rarely occur. Most political party systems lean toward the centre, where centre-left and centre-right parties compromise with centrist parties. Centrist parties are typically found in the middle of a party system, leading to mixed use of the term centre to refer to centrist parties and to this middle position regardless of
3150-490: The 1960s as polarisation grew and radical parties developed. Industrialisation reduced the appeal of agrarianism in the post-war era. The Agrarian Parties of Sweden , Norway , and Finland changed their names to the Centre Party in 1958, 1959, and 1965, respectively. This left Denmark as the only nation with a major self-proclaimed Agrarian Party , but it also described itself as liberal beginning in 1963. Fiji implemented
3255-473: The 1960s. Taiwan's political system, already inclined toward centrism, saw its two major parties move closer to the centrism in the late 1990s as newer parties developed on either side. After a long period of strong left-wing and right-wing movements, Latin American nations trended toward centrism in the 2000s. This came about as the nations' economies strengthened and the reduction of wealth inequality created
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3360-417: The 19th century, but it did so less than its primary advocates, and it rejected the related concept of social Darwinism . Instead of the idea that non-white races could not achieve European-style civilisation, centrist liberals believed that they could but it would take them longer to do so. Centrist liberalism was one of the two major global ideological groups at the beginning of the 20th century, where it
3465-478: The 19th century. As research universities became more common, advocacy for centrist reform was taken up by academics. Instead of engaging in direct activism, they considered social issues and presented their conclusions as objective science. Other ideological groups did not have success in this endeavour, as taking strong partisan stances risked one's reputation. Centrist liberals in Europe accepted scientific racism in
3570-585: The Adelaide Hills under Australia's preferential voting system. The party's representation increased to nine senators, and they regained the balance of power, holding it until the Coalition gained a Senate majority at the 2004 election . Internal conflict and leadership tensions from 2000 to 2002, blamed on the party's support for the Government's Goods and Services Tax , was damaging to the Democrats. Opposed by
3675-484: The Australian Democrats (Queensland Division). The party unsuccessfully contested the lower-house seat of Adelaide and a total of six Senate seats (two in each state of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia) at the 2019 federal election . At the 2022 federal election one lower-house seat (Eden-Monaro) and three Senate seats were contested without success, polling fewer than 0.7% of first-preference votes. The party polled fewer than 1.4% of first preference votes in
3780-481: The Australian Democrats leadership, vowing to abstain from alcohol. Following internal conflict over the goods and services tax and resultant leadership changes, a dramatic decline occurred in the Democrats' membership and voting support in all states. Simultaneously, an increase was recorded in support for the Australian Greens who, by 2004, were supplanting the Democrats as a substantial third party . The trend
3885-465: The Australian Democrats lost official parliamentary party status, being represented by only four senators while the governing Liberal-National Coalition gained a majority and potential control of the Senate—the first time this advantage had been enjoyed by any government since 1980. On 28 August 2006, the founder of the Australian Democrats, Don Chipp, died. Former prime minister Bob Hawke said: "... there
3990-497: The Australian Democrats were reduced to 1.7 per cent of the Legislative Council (upper house) vote. Their sole councillor up for re-election, Kate Reynolds , was defeated. In July 2006, Richard Pascoe, national and South Australian party president, resigned, citing slumping opinion polls and the poor result in the 2006 South Australian election as well as South Australian parliamentary leader Sandra Kanck 's comments regarding
4095-460: The Australian Democrats with no federal representation for the first time since its founding in 1977. Later, in 2009, Jaensch suggested it was possible the Democrats could make a political comeback at the 2010 South Australian election , but this did not occur. The Tasmanian division of the party was deregistered for having insufficient members in January 2006. At the 2006 South Australian election ,
4200-608: The Australian Greens. The party's parliamentary influence was weakened in 1996 after the Howard government was elected, and a Labor senator, Mal Colston , resigned from the Labor Party. Since the Democrats now shared the parliamentary balance of power with two Independent senators, the Coalition government was able on occasion to pass legislation by negotiating with Colston and Brian Harradine . In October 1997, party leader Cheryl Kernot resigned, announcing that she would be joining
4305-582: The Christian Centrist controlled national executive removed a website for party members from the internet, stating that its operation was a violation of the party constitution. In response, the progressive faction accused the national executive of being undemocratic and of acting contrary to the party constitution themselves. By 2012, this dispute had been superseded by another between members loyal to former Senator Brian Greig and members who were supporters of former South Australian MP Sandra Kanck. Brian Greig
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4410-567: The Christian Democrats expressed centrist positions but were the rightmost of Italy's major parties and took on a more conservative role. Turkey developed a two-party system with two centrist parties in the 1950s. The parties were instead motivated by demographics: the Republican People's Party was supported by urban voters and the military while Democrat Party was the party of rural voters and businessmen. This system fell apart by
4515-407: The Democrats' reputation as competent overseers of legislation. The last remaining Democrat State parliamentarian, David Winderlich , left the party and was defeated as an independent in 2010 . The party was formally deregistered in 2016 for not having the required 500 members. In 2018 the Democrats merged with CountryMinded , a small, also unregistered agrarian political party, and later that year
4620-476: The GST was opposed by the majority of the Democrats' members, and in 2001 a leadership spill saw Lees replaced as leader by Stott Despoja after a very public and bitter leadership battle. Despite criticism of Stott Despoja's youth and lack of experience, the 2001 election saw the Democrats receive similar media coverage to the previous election. Despite the internal divisions, the Australian Democrats' election result in 2001
4725-500: The Gulf War. Whereas the House of Representatives was able to avoid any debate about the war and Australia's participation, the Democrats took full advantage of the opportunity to move for a debate in the Senate. Because of the party's pacifist -based opposition to the Gulf War, there was mass-media antipathy and negative publicity which some construed as poor media performance by Janet Powell,
4830-579: The Labor Party, the Australian Greens and independent Senator Harradine, the tax required Democrat support to pass. In an election fought on tax, the Democrats publicly stated that they liked neither the Liberal's nor the Labor's tax packages, but pledged to work with whichever party was elected to make theirs better. They campaigned with the slogan "No Goods and Services Tax on Food". In 1999, after negotiations with Prime Minister Howard , Meg Lees, Andrew Murray and
4935-529: The New South Wales Democrats and Queensland Democrat divisions. In November 2018 there was a report that CountryMinded , a de-registered microparty , would merge with the Australian Democrats in a new bid to seek membership growth, electoral re-registration and financial support. In February 2019, application for registration was submitted to the AEC and was upheld on 7 April 2019, despite an objection from
5040-447: The balance of power in the upper chamber. At a Melbourne media conference on 19 September 1980, in the midst of the 1980 election campaign , Chipp described his party's aim as to "keep the bastards honest"—the "bastards" being the major parties or politicians in general. This became a long-lived slogan for the Democrats. Don Chipp resigned from the Senate on 18 August 1986, being succeeded as party leader by Janine Haines and replaced as
5145-589: The basis that the Democrats was the successor party to the Liberal Movement. At the 1977 election , the Australian Democrats secured two seats in the Senate with the election of Colin Mason (NSW) and Don Chipp (VIC), though Haines lost her seat in South Australia. At the 1980 election , this increased to five seats with the election of Michael Macklin (QLD) and John Siddons (VIC) and the return of Janine Haines (SA). Thereafter they frequently held enough seats to give them
5250-477: The capture of specific voters instead of the general population. The popularity of centrism in the Western World is contradicted by the relative electoral weakness of centrist parties. One possible explanation for the paradox is that centrists may be perceived as lacking the leadership or capability demonstrated by leaders of other ideologies. Another is that centrists are unable to increase their vote share because
5355-501: The centre and encourages polarisation. Anthony Downs proposed a model in which a centrist party emerges after the left-wing and right-wing parties diverge from a centrist-leaning public. Hans Daalder [ nl ] rejected the concept of a singular political centre entirely. When parties become more extreme, disaffected moderates may be enticed to join centrist parties when they would otherwise have been unwilling to join an opposing party. More broadly, polarisation can lead to
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#17328455906015460-584: The centre in the 1990s and 2000s. The centre-right, previously dominated by neoliberalism , became more accepting of the welfare state, and it showed more support for combatting poverty and inequality. This included the "kinder, gentler America" championed by George H. W. Bush in the United States, Die Neue Mitte ( transl. The New Centre ) of Gerhard Schröder in Germany, the British " Thatcherism with
5565-404: The centre is challenged by parties that seek to undermine the legitimacy of the political system. These parties come from both the left and the right and have different positions on how the government should function, which prevents them from unifying against the centre, giving the centre an opportunity to retain power. According to the median voter theorem , parties are incentivised to move toward
5670-444: The centre than right-leaning liberalism. Parties associated with social democracy and green politics commonly adopt the liberal position on social issues. Green parties , usually associated with left-wing politics, have a history of centrist economic policies in Central and Eastern Europe. Christian democracy , often considered a centre-right ideology, is sometimes grouped with the centre. Agrarianism may also be grouped with
5775-535: The centre when it maintained an element of working class revolution. Empires were forced to maintain the political centre, avoiding reactionary or revolutionary politics that could have affected their stability. Centrist liberalism was slower to develop outside of the great powers of Western Europe. By the 1830s, conservatism and radicalism in Western Europe began a shift toward moderation as they accepted ideas associated with centrist liberalism. The United Kingdom
5880-662: The centre-right to form a rightward flank. Centrist liberalism has only a minor presence in the Middle East, where it is overshadowed by leftism and Islamism . More developed countries in Latin America often have prominent centrist parties supported by the middle class. These have historically included the Radical Civic Union of Argentina, the Brazilian Democratic Movement , the Radical Party of Chile , and
5985-452: The centre. Agrarian parties are associated with the interests of farmers and other people associated with agriculture . Decentralization and environmental protection are also major agrarian ideals. These parties often developed in European countries where there was not a strong liberal movement, and vice versa, but they became less relevant by the mid-20th century. Radical centrism
6090-501: The damming of the Franklin River. The party's centrist role made it subject to criticism from both the right and left of the political spectrum. In particular, Chipp's former conservative affiliation was frequently recalled by opponents on the left. This problem was to torment later leaders and strategists who, by 1991, were proclaiming "the electoral objective" as a higher priority than the rigorous participatory democracy espoused by
6195-513: The drug MDMA which he saw as damaging to the party. In the New South Wales state election of March 2007, the Australian Democrats lost their last remaining NSW Upper House representative, Arthur Chesterfield-Evans . The party fared poorly, gaining only 1.8 per cent of the Legislative Council vote. On 13 September 2007, the ACT Democrats (Australian Capital Territory Division of the party)
6300-702: The exact boundaries of what constitutes centrism are not perfectly defined, but its specific placement on the left–right political spectrum makes its position clearer relative to other ideologies. Centrism most commonly refers to a set of moderate political beliefs between left-wing politics and right-wing politics . Individuals who describe themselves as centrist may hold strong beliefs that align with moderate politics, or they may identify as centrist because they do not hold particularly strong left-wing or right-wing beliefs. In some cases, individuals who simultaneously hold strong left-wing beliefs and strong right-wing beliefs may also describe themselves as centrist. Although
6405-579: The far-right Centre Party in the Netherlands. Relative to left-wing and right-wing parties, centrist parties are infrequently studied in political science. Centrism is part of the left–right political spectrum that developed during the French Revolution . When the National Assembly was organised, reactionary conservatives coalesced in the seats to the speaker's right, while the radicals sat on
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#17328455906016510-536: The federal level in Australia. They "were in the vanguard of environmentalism in Australia. From the early 1980s they were unequivocally opposed to the building of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania and they opposed the mining and export of uranium and the development of nuclear power plants in Australia." In particular, leader Don Chipp , and Tasmanian state Democrat Norm Sanders , played crucial legislative roles in preventing
6615-559: The fragmentation of the left and right into multiple parties, allowing a centrist party to perpetually be the Condorcet winner . Polarisation may also weaken a centrist party if both ends of a polarised society are made to oppose centrism. Centrist parties make up a specific party family and have commonalities across different nations and political systems. In the Nordic countries where social democracy dominates politics, centrism competes with
6720-473: The government instead of left-wing or right-wing populism . Centrism developed with the left–right political spectrum during the French Revolution , when assemblymen associated with neither the radicals nor the reactionaries sat between the two groups. Liberalism became the dominant centrist ideology in the 18th century with its support for anti-clericalism and individual rights , challenging both conservatism and socialism . Agrarianism briefly existed as
6825-689: The ideals that would accompany liberalism as it became the predominant centrist ideology in Europe. The political centre became a major force in England and France after the Napoleonic Wars . English centrism came from the Whigs , such as Henry Peter Brougham and Thomas Babington Macaulay . French centrism was supported by the Doctrinaires , such as Pierre Paul Royer-Collard and François Guizot . The Bonapartism of Napoleon III brought French conservatism to
6930-569: The ideological space around them is already occupied by other parties. Politicians with high approval might move to the centre to capitalise on their popularity with a larger voter base, while those seen as uncharismatic or incompetent may shift away from the centre to capture more reliable activist voters who will invest more into the politician's campaign. Opponents of centrism may describe it as opportunistic. Centrist-controlled governments are much rarer than left-wing or right-wing governments. While approximately 30% of world leaders were centrist in
7035-524: The immediate aftermath of the war. Under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi , it absorbed the centre-left and centre-right to create a centrist grouping and combat the Italian Communist Party . The group fractured during a leftward shift in the 1950s and 1960s as the leadership invited socialists into the party, hoping to deprive the Communist Party of an ally. This created a scenario in which
7140-577: The late-19th century through the Mugwumps of the Republican Party . The radical movement gave way to centrism after the 1870s as they both coalesced around ideals of republicanism , secularism , self-education , cooperation , land reform , and internationalism . Toward the end of the 19th century, agrarianism became a significant political movement in Europe to represent farmers' interests. Western social science intertwined itself with centrism in
7245-445: The left-centre-right trichotomy is well established in political science , individuals far from the political centre may occasionally reframe it, with the far-right alleging that the centre is leftist and the far-left alleging that the centre is rightist. Likewise, they may allege that their more moderate counterparts, the centre-left and the centre-right , are actually centrists because they are insufficiently radical. Liberalism
7350-492: The legislatures of the ACT , South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania. However, at the 2004 and 2007 federal elections, all seven of its Senate seats were lost as the party's share of the vote collapsed. This was largely attributed to party leader Meg Lees ' decision to pass the Howard government 's goods and services tax , which led to several years of popular recriminations and party infighting that destroyed
7455-468: The only nations to retain strong agrarian parties. The Holocaust ended support for any scientific racism and eugenics espoused by centrist liberals, as they instead adopted antiracism as scientific truth. Following World War II, middle class centrist parties in developed countries became less common as they moved leftward or rightward. Italy was dominated by the Christian Democracy party in
7560-405: The other factions. The fall of dictatorships in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Portugal in the 1980s was met by centrist parties that became the primary forces in transitioning the nations to democracy. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, centrist liberalism was seen as the dominant force in politics. The centre-left and the centre-right both moved closer to
7665-562: The party in 2002, becoming an independent and forming the Australian Progressive Alliance . Stott Despoja stood down from the leadership following a loss of confidence by her party room colleagues. It led to a protracted leadership battle in 2002, which eventually led to the election of Senator Andrew Bartlett as leader. While the public fighting stopped, the public support for the party remained at record lows. On 6 December 2003, Bartlett stepped aside temporarily as leader of
7770-509: The party in October 2009. He sat the remainder of his term as an independent, and lost his seat at the 2010 South Australian election . Following the loss of all Democrats MP's in both federal and state parliaments, the party continued to be riven by factionalism. In 2009 a dispute arose between two factions, the "Christian Centrists" loyal to former leader Meg Lees, and a faction comprising the party's more progressive members. The dispute arose when
7875-404: The party room senators agreed to support the A New Tax System legislation with exemptions from goods and services tax for most food and some medicines, as well as many environmental and social concessions. Five Australian Democrats senators voted in favour. However, two dissident senators on the party's left, Natasha Stott Despoja and Andrew Bartlett , voted against the GST. The decision to pass
7980-491: The party's constitution was radically rewritten to establish "top-down" governance and de-emphasize the principle of participatory democracy . On 7 April 2019 the party regained registration with the Australian Electoral Commission. As of 2022, the national president of the party is former senator and parliamentary leader Lyn Allison . The Australian Democrats were formed on 9 May 1977 from an amalgamation of
8085-530: The party's founders. Because of their numbers on the cross benches during the Hawke and Keating governments, the Democrats were sometimes regarded as exercising a balance of power —which attracted electoral support from a significant sector of the electorate which had been alienated by both Labor and Coalition policies and practices. Centrism Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on
8190-511: The party's standing having stalled at about 10%. Before 12 months of her leadership had passed, the South Australian and Queensland divisions were circulating the party's first-ever petition to criticise and oust the parliamentary leader. The explicit grounds related to Powell's alleged responsibility for poor AD ratings in Gallup and other media surveys of potential voting support. When this charge
8295-533: The party, after an incident in which he swore at Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris on the floor of Parliament while intoxicated. The party issued a statement stating that deputy leader Lyn Allison would serve as the acting leader of the party. Bartlett apologised to the Democrats, Jeannie Ferris and the Australian public for his behaviour and assured all concerned that it would never happen again. On 29 January 2004, after seeking medical treatment, Bartlett returned to
8400-564: The party, with a dramatic rise in primary vote. This was at the same time as an economic recession was building, and events such as the Gulf War in Kuwait were beginning to shepherd issues of globalisation and transnational trade on to national government agendas. Election Results Senate – National ^NSW, SA and VIC Only The Australian Democrats had a long-standing policy to oppose war and so opposed Australia's support of, and participation in,
8505-557: The poet Shaw Neilson but this was interrupted when she suffered a severe whiplash injury in a car accident. She died in 2004, at age 59, from a degenerative neurological condition, and was honoured with a state funeral in Adelaide. Haines became the assistant of Robin Millhouse , an important player in the South Australian conservative party the Liberal and Country League . Millhouse founded
8610-434: The political centre to maximise votes and to have the final say on closely-contested policies. Centrist parties face some intrinsic disadvantages when competing with left-wing and right-wing parties. Elections based on first-past-the-post voting or proportional representation provide less incentive for parties to hold centrist positions. Proportional representation systems weaken centrist parties because they incentivise
8715-399: The political centre, giving centrist parties hold a strong position in the formation of coalition governments, as they can accommodate both left-wing and right-wing parties. This gives them additional leverage in the formation of a minority government . When radical parties become viable, forming a coalition with the centre can force them to moderate. Once in a coalition, the centrist party
8820-476: The speaker's left. The moderates who were not affiliated with either faction sat in the centre seats, and they came to be known as the centrists. While liberalism began as a centre-left challenger to conservatism, it came to occupy the political centre of Western politics at the beginning of the 19th century as it also opposed radicalism and socialism. Liberal support for anti-clericalism and individual rights developed in opposition to conservatism, establishing
8925-548: The time of her appointment, with the party dissolving in 1976. A majority of Liberal Movement members, including Hall and second on the ticket, Michael Wilson , joined the Liberal Party , while Haines joined the Democrats . Haines did not contest the 1977 Australian federal election , and her Senate term expired on 30 June 1978. She was elected for a six-year term at the 1980 Australian federal election . On 14 August 1986, she
9030-504: The time, she requested and obtained party funds to pay for her travel to address members in all seven divisions. In the event, Victorian Janet Powell was elected as leader and John Coulter was chosen as deputy leader. Despite the loss of Haines and the WA Senate seat (through an inconsistent national preference agreement with the ALP), the 1990 federal election heralded something of a rebirth for
9135-549: The total abolition of the upper class . Centrist liberalism seeks institutional reform, but it prioritises prudence when enacting change. European centrist parties are typically in favour of European integration and were the primary movers in the development of the European Union . Whether political positions are considered centrist can change over time; when radical positions become more widely accepted in society, they can become centrist positions. In multi-party systems ,
9240-455: The use of social programs. In many Latin American nations, opposing presidential candidates campaigned on similar platforms and often supported retaining their predecessors' policies without any significant changes, shifting the focus of elections to personality over ideology. Support for centrism declined globally after the 2007–2008 financial crisis as it was challenged by populism and political polarisation . As of 2015, centrists made up
9345-465: The voluntary departure from the Senate of Janine Haines (a step with which not all Democrats agreed) and the failure of her strategic goal of winning the House of Representatives seat of Kingston . The casual vacancy was filled by Meg Lees several months before the election of Cheryl Kernot in place of retired deputy leader Michael Macklin. The ambitious Kernot immediately contested the party's national parliamentary deputy leadership. Being unemployed at
9450-419: The vote in 2001. No Democrat senators were elected, though four kept their seats due to being elected in 2001, thus their representation fell from eight senators to four. Three incumbent senators were defeated: Aden Ridgeway (NSW), Brian Greig (WA) and John Cherry (Qld). Following the loss, the customary post-election leadership ballot installed Allison as leader, with Bartlett as her deputy. From 1 July 2005
9555-486: The western liberal consensus. In the Pacific, New Caledonia did not form a strong centrist movement until the 1990s as a consequence of the independence question. Conservative groups had actively suppressed centrist figures like Caledonian Union leader Maurice Lenormand [ fr ] , who was accused of being a communist and prosecuted for allegedly organising the bombing of his own party newspaper's headquarters in
9660-409: Was Don Chipp , a former Liberal cabinet minister, who famously promised to "keep the bastards honest". At the 1977 federal election , the Democrats polled 11.1 percent of the Senate vote and secured two seats. The party would retain a presence in the Senate for the next 30 years, winning seats in all six states and at its peak (between 1999 and 2002) holding nine out of 76 seats, though never securing
9765-540: Was Robin Millhouse , the sole New LM member of the South Australian House of Assembly , who joined the Democrats in 1977. Millhouse held his seat ( Mitcham ) at the 1977 and 1979 state elections. In 1982, Millhouse resigned to take up a senior judicial appointment, and Heather Southcott won the by-election for the Democrats, but lost the seat to the Liberals later that year at the 1982 state election . Mitcham
9870-478: Was challenged by right-wing conservatism and Catholicism. Centrism faced increased pressure beginning in the interwar period as left-wing politics saw a resurgence, meaning centrism was challenged from both directions. Agrarianism lost much of its influence in the 1930s as nations fell under right-wing dictatorships, and its return in the 1940s was short-lived as nations fell under communist rule. The Nordic countries, which were mostly spared from both movements, were
9975-503: Was chosen by Democrats members as Senate leader on the retirement of inaugural leader Don Chipp . She remained Senate leader until resigning to contest the House of Representatives seat of Kingston in the March 1990 election , believing the Democrats needed a "high profile lower house presence". She was unsuccessful in the face of a negative campaign waged against her by both major parties. She
10080-476: Was deemed insufficient, interested party officers and senators reinforced it with negative media 'leaks' concerning her openly established relationship with Sid Spindler and exposure of administrative failings resulting in excessive overtime to a staff member. With National Executive blessing, the party room pre-empted the ballot by replacing the leader with deputy John Coulter . In the process, severe internal divisions were generated. One major collateral casualty
10185-484: Was deregistered by the ACT Electoral Commissioner, being unable to demonstrate a minimum membership of 100 electors. These losses left Sandra Kanck, in South Australia, as the party's only parliamentarian. She retired in 2009 and was replaced by David Winderlich , making him (as of 2020) the last Democrat to sit in any Australian parliament. The Democrats lost all representation when Winderlich resigned from
10290-410: Was elected the party's president, but resigned after less than a month due to frustration with the party's factionalism. On 16 April 2015, the Australian Electoral Commission deregistered the Australian Democrats as a political party for failure to demonstrate the requisite 500 members to maintain registration. However, the party did run candidates and remain registered for a period of time thereafter in
10395-450: Was noted that year by political scientists Dean Jaensch et al. Support for the Australian Democrats fell significantly at the 2004 federal election in which they achieved only 2.4 per cent of the national vote. Nowhere was this more noticeable than in their key support base of suburban Adelaide in South Australia, where they received between 1 and 4 percent of the lower house vote; by comparison, they tallied between 7 and 31 per cent of
10500-674: Was pivotal in "shaping the Australian Democrats into a powerful political entity that held the balance of power in the Senate". Haines was born in Tanunda, South Australia , to a schoolteacher mother and policeman father, and travelled around South Australia with her parents and younger brother, due to her father's job. They eventually settled in Adelaide and she attended Brighton High School . She married Ian Haines, whom she met at University of Adelaide where they were both studying mathematics, in 1967. They had two daughters, Melanie and Bronwyn. She taught English part-time and commenced an MA thesis on
10605-457: Was quite good. However, it was not enough to prevent the loss of Vicki Bourne 's Senate seat in NSW. The 2002 South Australian election was the last time an Australian Democrat would be elected to an Australian parliament. Sandra Kanck was re-elected to a second eight-year term from an upper house primary vote of 7.3 percent. Resulting tensions between Stott Despoja and Lees led to Meg Lees leaving
10710-412: Was spared from the many revolutions during the early 19th century as its conservatives took a decisively centrist position, enlightened conservatism, and expressed willingness to compromise with the nation's strong radical element. As radicalism declined in Western Europe, liberalism and conservatism became the two dominant political movements. The United States saw a centrist liberal movement develop in
10815-530: Was succeeded as interim Senate leader for several months by deputy Dr Michael Macklin (Qld), pending the customary election of a new leader by party members, at which Janet Powell was successful. After leaving parliament Haines worked in a number of public positions including being president of the Australia Privacy Charter Council and deputy chancellor of the University of Adelaide . She
10920-547: Was the only single-member lower-house seat anywhere in Australia to be won by the Democrats. The first Democrat federal parliamentarian was Senator Janine Haines , who in 1977 was nominated by the South Australian Parliament to fill the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Liberal Senator Steele Hall . Hall had been elected as a Liberal Movement senator, before rejoining the Liberal Party in 1976, and South Australian premier Don Dunstan nominated Haines on
11025-473: Was the party whip Paul McLean who resigned and quit the Senate in disgust at what he perceived as in-fighting between close friends. The casual NSW vacancy created by his resignation was filled by Karin Sowada . Powell duly left the party, along with many leading figures of the Victorian branch of the party, and unsuccessfully stood as an Independent candidate when her term expired. In later years, she campaigned for
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