List of political parties in Australia

Two political groups dominate the Australian political spectrum, forming a de facto two-party system. One is the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a centre-left party which is formally linked to the Australian labour movement. Formed in 1893, it has been a major party federally since 1901, and has been one of the two major parties since the 1910 federal election. The ALP is in government in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

The other group is a conservative grouping of parties that are in coalition at the federal level, as well as in New South Wales, but compete in Western Australia and South Australia. The main party in this group is the centre-right Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is the modern form of a conservative grouping that has existed since the fusion of the Protectionist Party and Free Trade Party into the Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1909. Although this group has changed its nomenclature, there has been a general continuity of MPs and structure between different forms of the party. Its modern form was founded by Robert Menzies in 1944. The party's philosophy is generally liberal conservatism.

Every elected prime minister of Australia since 1910 has been a member of either the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, or one of the Liberal Party's previous incarnations (the Commonwealth Liberal Party, the Nationalist Party of Australia, or the United Australia Party).

The Liberal Party is joined by the National Party, a party that seeks to represent rural interests, especially agricultural ones. The Nationals contest a limited number of seats and do not generally directly compete with the Liberal Party. Its ideology is generally more socially conservative than that of the Liberal Party. In 1987, the National Party made an abortive run for the office of prime minister in its own right, in the Joh for Canberra campaign. However, it has generally not aspired to become the majority party in the coalition, and it is generally understood that the prime minister of Australia will be a member of either the Labor or Liberal parties. On two occasions (involving Earle Page in 1939, and John McEwen from December 1967 to January 1968), the deputy prime minister, the leader of the National Party (then known as the Country Party), became the prime minister temporarily, upon the death of the incumbent prime minister. Arthur Fadden was the only other Country Party, prime minister. He assumed office in August 1941 after the resignation of Robert Menzies and served as prime minister until October of that year.

The Liberal and National parties have merged in Queensland and the Northern Territory, although the resultant parties are different. The Liberal National Party of Queensland, formed in 2008, is a branch of the Liberal Party, but it is affiliated with the Nationals and members elected to federal parliament may sit as either Liberals or Nationals. The Country Liberal Party was formed in 1978 when the Northern Territory gained responsible government. It is a separate member of the federal coalition, but it is affiliated with the two major members and its president has voting rights in the National Party. The name refers to the older name of the National Party.

Federally, these parties are collectively known as the Coalition. The Coalition has existed continually (between the Nationals and their predecessors, and the Liberals and their predecessors) since 1923, with minor breaks in 1940, 1973, and 1987.

Historically, support for either the Coalition or the Labor Party was often viewed as being based on social class, with the upper and middle classes supporting the Coalition and the working class supporting Labor. This has been a less important factor since the 1970s and 1980s when the Labor Party gained a significant bloc of middle-class support and the Coalition gained a significant bloc of working-class support.[1]

The two-party duopoly has been relatively stable, with the two groupings (Labor and Coalition) gaining at least 70% of the primary vote in every election since 1910 (including the votes of autonomous state parties). Third parties have only rarely received more than 10% of the vote for the Australian House of Representatives in a federal election, such as the Australian Democrats in the 1990 election and the Australian Greens in 2010, 2016 and 2019

Parties listed in alphabetical order as of 10 February 2020:[2][3]

Divisions of the federal parties:[5]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
The Coalition
	Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division)	Gladys Berejiklian	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	35 / 93	11 / 42
	National Party of Australia – NSW	John Barilaro	Conservatism Agrarianism	13 / 93	6 / 42
	Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch)	Jodi McKay	Social democracy	36 / 93	14 / 42
	Country Labor Party
	Greens NSW	No leader	Green politics	3 / 93	3 / 42
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	Robert Brown	Conservatism Gun rights	3 / 93	2 / 42
	Animal Justice Party	Mark Pearson	Animal rights	0 / 93	2 / 42
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	Mark Latham	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 93	2 / 42
	Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)	Paul Green	National conservatism Christian right	0 / 93	1 / 42
	Liberal Democratic Party		Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Keep Sydney Open		Anti-lockout laws	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Reason Party NSW		Civil libertarianism Progressivism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Flux Party (NSW)	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Socialist Alliance	No leader	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Australian Conservatives (NSW)		Conservatism Social conservatism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	Sustainable Australia (NSW)		Anti-immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism	0 / 93	0 / 42
	The Small Business Party		Small business advocacy	0 / 93	0 / 42

As of the Victorian Electoral Commission:[6]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)	Daniel Andrews	Social democracy	55 / 88	18 / 40
The Coalition
	Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division)	Michael O'Brien	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	21 / 88	10 / 40
	National Party of Australia – Victoria	Peter Walsh	Conservatism Agrarianism	6 / 88	1 / 40
	Australian Greens Victoria	Samantha Ratnam	Green politics	3 / 88	1 / 40
	Derryn Hinch's Justice Party	Stuart Grimley	Justice reform Anti-paedophilia	0 / 88	2 / 40
	Liberal Democratic Party	Tim Quilty	Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	0 / 88	2 / 40
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (Victoria)	Jeff Bourman	Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Fiona Patten's Reason Party	Fiona Patten	Civil libertarianism	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Sustainable Australia	Clifford Hayes	Anti-immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Animal Justice Party	Andy Meddick	Animal rights	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Transport Matters Party	Rod Barton	Taxi industry advocacy	0 / 88	1 / 40
	Victorian Socialists	No leader	Democratic socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Democratic Labour Party	Rosemary Lorrimar	Social conservatism Christian democracy	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	No leader	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 88	0 / 40

As of the Queensland Electoral Commission:[7]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)	Annastacia Palaszczuk	Social democracy	48 / 93
	Liberal National Party of Queensland	Deb Frecklington	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	39 / 93
	Katter's Australian Party	Robbie Katter	Australian nationalism Economic nationalism	3 / 93
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	Pauline Hanson	Right-wing populism Anti-immigration	1 / 93
	Queensland Greens	Michael Berkman	Green politics	1 / 93
	North Queensland First	Jason Costigan	North Queensland statehood	1 / 93
	Flux Party Queensland	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 93
	Motorists Party	Jeffrey Hodges	Public ownership	0 / 93
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (QLD)	Andrew Pope	Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 93
	Animal Justice Party (Queensland)	Andrew Pope	Animal rights	0 / 93

As of the Western Australian Electoral Commission:[8]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MLAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (WA Branch)	Mark McGowan	Social democracy	40 / 59	14 / 36
	Liberal Party of Australia (WA Division)	Liza Harvey	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	14 / 59	9 / 36
	National Party of Australia (WA)	Mia Davies	Conservatism Agrarianism	5 / 59	4 / 36
	Greens WA	Robin Chapple	Green politics	0 / 59	4 / 36
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	Colin Tincknell	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 59	2 / 36
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (WA) Inc	Rick Mazza	Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 59	1 / 36
	Liberal Democratic Party	Aaron Stonehouse	Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	0 / 59	1 / 36
	Australian Christians (WA)	Jamie van Burgel	Conservatism Christian right	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Animal Justice Party	Katrina Love	Animal rights	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Socialist Alliance WA	No leader	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Flux Party WA	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Daylight Saving Party	Wilson Tucker	Daylight savings advocacy	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Fluoride Free WA	Anne Porter	Anti-fluoridation	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Western Australia Party	Julie Matheson	Regionalism Centrism	0 / 59	0 / 36
	Small Business Party	John Golawski	Small business advocacy	0 / 59	0 / 36

As of the Electoral Commission of South Australia:[9]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MHAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division)	Steven Marshall	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	25 / 47	9 / 22
	Australian Labor Party (SA Branch)	Peter Malinauskas	Social democracy	19 / 47	8 / 22
	Greens SA	Mark Parnell	Green politics	0 / 47	2 / 22
	SA-BEST	Connie Bonaros	Social liberalism	0 / 47	2 / 22
	Advance SA	John Darley	Centrism	0 / 47	1 / 22
	National Party of Australia (SA)		Conservatism Agrarianism	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Animal Justice Party	Louise Pfeiffer	Animal rights	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Child Protection Party	Tony Tonkin	Child protection advocacy	0 / 47	0 / 22

As of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:[10]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MHAs	MLCs	Federal division
	Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division)	Peter Gutwein	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	13 / 25	2 / 15
	Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch)	Rebecca White	Social democracy	9 / 25	4 / 15
	Tasmanian Greens	Cassy O'Connor	Green politics	2 / 25	0 / 15
	Jacqui Lambie Network	Jacqui Lambie	Populism Regionalism	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Shooters and Fishers Party Tasmania	Rebecca Byfield	Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Socialist Alliance	No leader	Socialism Anti-capitalism	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Australian Christians		Conservatism Christian right	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Australian Federation Party Tasmania		Big tent	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Animal Justice Party	Karen Bevis	Animal rights	0 / 25	0 / 15
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	Matthew Stephen	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism	0 / 25	0 / 15

As listed with the ACT Electoral Commission:[11]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch)	Andrew Barr	Social democracy	12 / 25
	Liberal Party of Australia (A.C.T. Division)	Alistair Coe	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	11 / 25
	ACT Greens	Shane Rattenbury	Green politics	2 / 25
	Liberal Democratic Party		Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	0 / 25
	Animal Justice Party		Animal rights	0 / 25
	Flux Party (ACT)	Nathan Spataro	Direct democracy	0 / 25
	Sustainable Australia (ACT)	John Haydon	Anti-immigration Anti-overdevelopment Green liberalism[12]	0 / 25
	The Community Alliance Party (ACT)			0 / 25

As of the Northern Territory Electoral Commission:[13]

Name		Leader	Ideology	MPs	Federal division
	Australian Labor Party (NT Branch)	Michael Gunner	Social democracy	16 / 25
	Territory Alliance	Terry Mills	Regionalism	3 / 25
	Country Liberal Party	Lia Finocchiaro	Liberal conservatism Agrarianism	2 / 25
	Greens NT	No leader	Green politics	0 / 25
	Shooters and Fishers Party		Conservatism Gun rights	0 / 25
	Citizens Electoral Council (NT Division)	Craig Isherwood	LaRouche movement	0 / 25
	Ban Fracking Fix Crime Protect Water	Braedon Earley	Regionalism	0 / 25
	Australian Federation Party NT		Big tent	0 / 25
	Animal Justice Party		Animal welfare	0 / 25