In recent days we’ve received a number of enquiries from Liberal Party members who don’t feel they can continue to support the party following the recent back-flip on the CPRS and change of leadership.
You might be wondering where you stand. Whether you want to continue to support the Liberal Party and its new leadership, or find a new home. A new party that’ll hear you.
The Australian Democrats regularly welcomes new members from the progressive wing of the Liberal Party. After all, that’s where Don Chipp came from when he founded the party back in 1977.
If you’re wondering whether the Australian Democrats are right for you, below is a quick run through of our core beliefs comparing them to the Liberal Party’s beliefs. As you will see, there are lots of positions we have which are pretty close to the Liberal Party. If you are a progressive liberal (with a lower case l) then you’ll fit right in.
Core belief number 1: We should all be free to live our lives how we want to.
Freedom is a fundamental part of liberalism, so of course features strongly in the core beliefs of both the Liberal Party and the Australian Democrats. We both believe that, if nothing else, we should be free. The difference is the Australian Democrats don’t allow other positions to over-ride that: we support gay marriage, the right to choose to have a safe and legal abortion without judgement, the right to choose how you die, and many other rights as part of ensuring we are all free.
Core belief number 2: Every Australian should have equal rights and opportunities.
This core principal is also in the Liberal Party’s list, however, we hold truer to this belief than recent events would indicate the Liberal Party do. We have a higher level of support for measures to help lift those who would otherwise struggle to maximise their opportunities. In particular, we defend the right to access to information by opposing unnecessary censorship (such as the proposed clean feed of the Internet) and have great faith in education as the most important thing to help Australians achieve equality. We believe there should be genuine equal rights and opportunity in all areas of life - education, employment, marriage and accessing medical services to name just a few.
Core belief number 3: We should care for the world around us to sustain our resources, our economy and the well-being of future generations
This is not just taking care of the environment, it means taking care of everything: manmade, natural, economic, social. A common theme you will find in the Australian Democrats positions and policy is balance. We need to balance the needs of our natural and constructed worlds to achieve true sustainability, that is, increasing growth on increasingly less resources. It is the greatest challenge of or time and we believe that an integrated and holistic approach to sustainability is essential to succeed. The Australian Democrats have a long and rich history of advocating for the environment and are driven to achieve great wins for the earth without killing the economy in the process.
Core Belief 4: Our representatives should put the interests of people first, weighing all perspectives to develop fair, inclusive and lasting solutions.
Ok, this one you won’t find quite so strongly and directly expressed in the Liberal Party beliefs. Australian Democrats believe strongly in the power of democracy, and that it is our representatives’ job to represent their constituents first and foremost. It’s one of the reasons we have the right to a conscience vote on everything codified in our party’s constitution. The Liberal Party take an ideological position that Government should do as little as possible, leaving it to individuals and the market to drive change. We agree with that, when appropriate – when it’s appropriate for Government to act, we expect them to act. In essence we take every issue as it comes and urge our representatives to leave the ideology at the door and make the best decision at that time for that situation.
Core belief 5: We must take responsibility, individually and collectively, for our nation and its people.
This core belief has a similar deviation from the Liberal position as number 4. We agree that individuals can and should drive the nation: but the Australian Democrats also believe there are times when it is appropriate, and we can achieve greater heights, to work collectively as well; that we have a responsibility to our nation to work together to achieve great things.
So as you can see, where we differ is our non-ideological approach to solving issues, our insistence on balance, a strong belief in democracy, and a commitment to deliver on the principals we uphold in more than rhetoric.
If you believe you can support those 5 core beliefs then we’d love to have you as a member of the Australian Democrats. Join now.
Need more? Click here for a quick summary of our position on some core issues.
Frequently asked questions for Liberals considering joining the Australian Democrats.
