Federalism and New Party Insurgency in Australia

Abstract

The multiple forums for electoral competition that characterize a federal system might be expected to provide opportunities for new parties to use regional support as a springboard for success in national elections. Yet, since the 1950s, this has not been the pattern for new parties in the Australian federation; three of the four substantial party insurgencies in this period have had national, protest-based, origins. The exception has been the emergence of the Australian Greens with the party's origins in locally based environmental groups and its state organization. This study suggests that a subnationally orientated structure enables a party to take advantage of its federal institutional context and enhances the prospect of a new party enjoying a lasting presence in the party system.

Keywords:

• New parties
• federal system
• Australia
• party organization

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Erratum

Notes

This version has been corrected. Please see Erratum http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2012.746496

Green parties have operated under names which varied by state and over time; in this article the name Australian Greens and the abbreviation ‘Greens’ is used to cover all Green parties.

The Democratic Labor Party began as the Anti-Communist Labor Party, and the Queensland Labor Party; in this article the name Democratic Labor Party is used for all manifestations of the party.

Although this article refers to the party as One Nation, its initial registered name was Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. This article does not include votes won by Pauline Hanson after 2004 as an Independent candidate or as a member of other parties.

The two Australian territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory—are omitted from this study; they did not gain self-government and full representation in the federal parliament until after the beginning of the period under review.