Liberal Party (Australia)
| Leader | Sussan Ley |
|---|---|
| Deputy Leader | Ted O'Brien |
| Senate Leader | Simon Birmingham |
| Deputy Senate Leader | Michaelia Cash |
| President | John Olsen |
| Preceded by | United Australia |
| Headquarters | R. G. Menzies House, Barton, Australian Capital Territory |
| Student wing | Liberal Students' Federation |
| Youth wing | Young Liberals |
| Women's wing | Federal Women's Committee |
| Overseas wing | Australian Liberals Abroad[1] |
| Membership (2020) | |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| National affiliation | Liberal–National Coalition |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
| Colours | Blue |
| Governing body | Federal Council |
| Party branches | |
| House of Representatives | 40 / 151 [note 1] |
| Senate | 25 / 76 [note 2] |
| State and territorial governments | 1 / 8 |
| State and territorial lower house members | 166 / 455 |
| State upper house members | 41 / 155 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Liberal Party of Australia (Liberals, or LIB for short), in coalition with the National Party of Australia (Nationals, or NAT for short), is a center-right party that is one of the two main political groups in Australian politics (the other being the Social Democratic Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberals/Nationals are the more conservative of the two main parties. It was founded by Sir Robert Menzies in 1944. They lost government to the ALP in the Australian federal election held on 24 November 2007. This was after 11 years in government under the previous Liberal leader, John Howard.
The Liberal/National coalition were in control in the Federal Parliament of Australia after beating the ALP during an election on 7 September 2013. They lost control after losing many seats in the 2022 election.
The current party leader is Sussan Ley since 13 May 2025.[21]
Liberal Prime Ministers of Australia
- Robert Menzies - from 1949 until his resignation in 1966.[22]
- Harold Holt - from 1966 until his death in 1967.[23]
- John Gorton - from 1968 until his resignation 1971.[24]
- William McMahon - from 1971 until his loss to Gough Whitlam (ALP) in the 1972 election.[25]
- Malcolm Fraser - from his appointment following the Dismissal of Gough Whitlam in 1975 until his defeat by Bob Hawke (ALP) in 1983.[26]
- John Howard - from his victory over Paul Keating in 1996 to his defeat by Kevin Rudd (ALP) in 2007.[27]
- Tony Abbott - from his victory over Kevin Rudd in 2013.[28]
- Malcolm Turnbull - from replacing Abbott on 14 September 2015 to his resignation on 24 August 2018.
- Scott Morrison - from replacing Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party on 24 August 2018.
Federal Parliamentary Leaders of the Liberal Party of Australia
- Sir Robert Menzies February 1945 to 26 January 1966
- Harold Holt 26 January 1966 to 19 December 1967
- Sir John Gorton 10 January 1968 to 10 March 1971
- Sir William McMahon 10 March 1971 to 5 December 1972
- Sir Billy Snedden December 1972 to March 1975
- Malcolm Fraser March 1975 to 11 March 1983
- Andrew Peacock March 1983 to September 1985
- John Howard September 1985 to May 1989
- Andrew Peacock May 1989 to March 1990
- John Hewson April 1990 to May 1994
- Alexander Downer May 1994 to January 1995
- John Howard 30 January 1995 to 27 November 2007
- Brendan Nelson 29 November 2007 to 16 September 2008
- Malcolm Turnbull 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009
- Tony Abbott 1 December 2009 to 14 September 2015
- Malcolm Turnbull 14 September 2015 to 24 August 2018
- Scott Morrison 24 August 2018 to 30 May 2022
- Peter Dutton 30 May 2022 to 3 May 2025
- Sussan Ley since 13 May 2025
Current Liberal leaders of States and Territories
- Chief Minister of the Northern Territory: Willem Westra van Holte³, since February 2015.
- Premier of Tasmania: Peter Gutwein since 2014.
- Premier of New South Wales: Gladys Berejiklian, since 2014. .
²In Queensland the Liberal and National parties merged into the Liberal National Party of Queensland ³In the Northern Territory the party is called the Country Liberal Party.
Other notable Liberals
- Enid Lyons - first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives (for the UAP), then served as a Liberal from 1944 to 1951 and was appointed by Robert Menzies as the first woman to sit in the Australian Cabinet.
- Neville Bonner as Senator for Queensland, he became the first Indigenous Australian to sit in the Federal Parliament.
- Nick Greiner - Premier of New South Wales, 1988–1992.
- Jeff Kennett - Premier of Victoria, 1992–1999.
- Cate Carnell - Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, 1995–2000, and first Liberal woman to lead a state or territory.
- Peter Costello - Australia's longest serving Treasurer (1996-2007).
- Alexander Downer - Australia's longest serving Minister for Foreign Affairs (1996-2007).
- Ken Wyatt - first Aboriginal member of the Australian House of Representatives (2010-)
Notes
- ↑ The Liberal National Party of Queensland was formed as a merger of the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party and the National Party. It mainly functions at the state-level.
- ↑ Menzies is the party's most prominent co-founder, having been the party's first and longest serving leader. Furthermore, he is often cited as the "founder"[12] or "father" of the party.[13][14]
- ↑ The Liberal Party acknowledges the party's formation date to be 13 October 1944,[15] which was the first day of a three-day meeting called the "Conference of Representatives of Non-Labour Organisations" in Canberra.[16][17][18] The name and objectives were adopted at the conference, with the party constitution and organisation being decided two months later at the Albury Conference (15–16 December 1944). The only other date that has been cited for the founding of the party is 31 August 1945.
References
- ↑ Australian Liberals Abroad (12 June 2013).
- ↑ Our Structure (in en-au). Liberal Party of Australia (2013-06-12). Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ↑ Davies, Anne. Party hardly: why Australia's big political parties are struggling to compete with grassroots campaigns (in en). The Guardian (13 December 2020). Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ↑ Hancock, Ian. The Origins of the Modern Liberal Party (1994). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ↑ Steketee, Mike. The revolt of the Liberal moderates (in en-AU). The Canberra Times (2021-03-12). Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ↑ Australia's Welfare Wars Revisited: The Players, the Politics and the Ideologies (2007)Springer Nature. p. 123. ISBN 9780868409917.
- ↑ Keywords in Australian Politics (2006)Cambridge University Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780521672832. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ↑ Williams, John R.. The Emergence of the Liberal Party of Australia. The Australian Quarterly 39 (1) (1967)JSTOR. p. 7–27. doi:10.2307/20634106. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ↑ Massola, James. Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions? (in en). The Sydney Morning Herald (2021-03-20). Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ↑ Nicole A. Thomas. Right-Wing Politicians Prefer the Emotional Left. PLOS ONE 7 (5) (2012). p. 4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036552.
- ↑ Political party name abbreviations & codes, demographic ratings and seat status (18 January 2016)Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ↑ Brandis, George. Taking liberties with Menzies' politics betrays his life and legacy. smh.com.au (24 October 2022)The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ↑ Hutchens, Gareth. Robert Menzies wouldn't recognise the Liberal Party's employment policies today (3 October 2021)ABC News. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ↑ Walker, Tony. Malcolm Fraser's political manifesto would make good reading for the Morrison government (28 August 2018)The Conversation. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ↑ Our History. liberal.org.au (12 June 2013)Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ↑ Forming the Liberal Party of Australia – Record of the Conference of Representatives of Non-Labor Organisations (16 October 1944). Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ↑ Formation of the Liberal Party of Australia. Party HistoryLiberal Party of Australia—Queensland Division. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
- ↑ Ian Hancock. The Origins of the Modern Liberal Party. Harold White FellowshipsNational Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
- ↑ Ferguson, Richard (14 April 2021). "Liberals' flag fiasco". The Australian. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/strewth/liberals-flag-fiasco/news-story/43fa20d2d1b1e1dea0e4af7309909945. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ↑ Wilkinson, Jamie. A short history of political party branding – Liberals. news.canningspurple.com.au (27 June 2016). Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ↑ Truu, Maani (13 May 2025). "Sussan Ley becomes first woman to lead Liberal Party" (in en-AU). ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-13/liberal-party-new-leader-sussan-ley/105285148. Retrieved 2025-05-13.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - Robert Menzies (26 April 1939 – 29 August 1941; 19 December 1949 – 26 January 1966) and Pattie Menzies. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - Harold Holt (26 January 1966 – 19 December 1967) and Zara Holt. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - John Gorton (10 January 1968 – 10 March 1971) and Bettina Gorton. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - William McMahon (10 March 1971 – 5 December 1972) and Sonia McMahon. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - Malcolm Fraser (11 November 1975 – 11 March 1983) and Tamie Fraser. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - John Howard (11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007) and Janette Howard. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes. About - Tony Abbott (September 2013 –) and Margaret Abbott. primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-09-28.