Australian Progressive Alliance
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The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor liberal party in Australia. The party was formed by Senator Meg Lees, the former leader of the Australian Democrats, in April 2003. The party is no longer active, having been voluntarily deregistered in June 2005.
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[edit] History
Meg Lees resigned from the Democrats in July 2002 after having been deposed as the party's leader in April 2001. She sat as an independent in the Senate until she formed the APA in 2003.
Upon its formation a number of other prominent former members of the Australian Democrats joined the APA, including former Queensland Senator John Woodley, who was the party's president, and Elisabeth Kirkby, a former member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.
However, the party failed to make any serious impact in the 2004 election with Lees herself falling far short of being re-elected in South Australia. When Lees' term ended in June 2005 the party formally deregistered.
[edit] Policy
The APA positioned itself as a party of the moderate centre, arguing that the Democrats, under the leadership first of Cheryl Kernot and more recently of Natasha Stott-Despoja and Andrew Bartlett, had moved too far to the left.
Lees said in a 2003 On line Opinion article that the party would appeal to "voters who cannot be dragged to the extremes by the Greens in any enduring way. These are the voters who want more choice in the mainstream, who want to be able to make a positive vote rather than just choose the lesser of several evils."[1]
The party's "guiding principles" were described as:
- To act with integrity, tolerance and compassion.
- To respect the freedom of the individual particularly the freedoms of association, expression and religion.
- To uphold a system of constitutional checks and balances in Government particularly the separation of powers and the rule of law.
- To commit to a socially just, environmentally responsible and economically sustainable Australia, working for a balance between, and the integration of, social needs, the protection and care of Australia’s unique biodiversity and the equitable collection and spending of revenue.
- To work for positive solutions for all Australians and not be controlled by any one particular group in the community.
[edit] Australian legislative election, 2004
At the 2004 federal election Lees sought re-election to the Australian Senate. Despite her high profile in South Australia, she failed to win back her seat. The APA also stood candidates in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and ACT.
Aside from Lees, the lead candidates in each electorate were: Reese Malcolm in New South Wales, Chris Grigsby in Victoria, Tony Newman in Queensland, Geoff Gibson in Western Australia and Jeannette Jolley in the ACT.
[edit] 2004 Senate Election Results
| Senate Electorate | Votes (%) |
|---|---|
| SA | 11,061 (1.14%) |
| ACT | 1,147 (0.54%) |
| Victoria | 2,453 (0.08%) |
| WA | 932 (0.08%) |
| NSW | 2,342 (0.06%) |
| Qld | 928 (0.04%) |
| National Total | 18,863 (0.14%) |
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website (from archive.org)
- The Progressive Alliance will fill the political vacuum in Australia's centre - opinion piece by Meg Lees
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