The Science Party, formerly known as Future Party, is an Australian political party that was established on 2 July 2013.
The founding leader, James Jansson, was studying for his Doctorate at the
Kirby Institute
The Kirby Institute (formerly the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research) is a medical research organisation affiliated with the University of New South Wales and based on UNSW's Kensington campus. Founded in 1986, its initial ...
during the party's formation, with a focus on advancing Australian society through technical and long-term solutions. On 22 March 2016, the name was changed to The Science Party after registering with the Australian Electoral Commission.
The Science Party has run candidates for the 2013, 2016 and 2019 Federal elections, as well as several By-elections in between.
The party was de-registered on 12 January 2022 by the
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.
Responsibilities
The AEC's main responsibility is to ...
for failing to meet the increased registration requirement of 1,500 members. It later merged with other parties to become the
Fusion Party
Fusion Party is a name for multiple political parties in United States history and more recently a Federal political party established in Australia. The different parties that used the name don't share any particular political positions; instead ...
.
Political philosophy
The Science Party believes that technological development is a positive force in human affairs and values the cultural, economic and technological benefits of modernism.
It believes in freedom of expression and has a positive view of the power of free markets and the benefits of high density cities. The party seeks to promote high quality science research and education.
Policies
Science Party policies include the following:
* Opposition to unnecessary regulations of new technology
* Opposition to government monitoring of data and criminalisation of journalism
* Greater transparency and openness in government
* Increased science research funding
* New
charter city
In the United States, a charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its orga ...
including a university
* Higher density residential development
* High quality internet and
internet freedom
*
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...
and
fission research
*
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission ...
and
renewable energy
* Greater space research and industry
* A higher quality education system
* An
Australian republic
* Democratic reform to
both houses of parliament
* Simplified
tax system
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
*
High-speed rail
* Rapid approval for
driverless cars
Elections
Federal elections
2013 federal election
The Science Party first ran in the
2013 federal election as The Future Party. The party ran two candidates for the
senate in NSW, and one in the
New South Wales seat of Kingsford Smith and another in the
Queensland seat of Moreton The party has been involved in
Glenn Druery
Glenn Druery is an Australian political strategist, electoral campaigner and ultra-distance cyclist. He has played a leading role in the electoral success of various micro and minor parties in Australia since the mid-1990s.
He acquired a reputat ...
's
Minor Party Alliance
The Minor Party Alliance (MPA) is a collaborative undertaking of small Australian political parties, created by Glenn Druery's "Independent Liaison" business, which assists in organising preference meetings and negotiating preference flows between ...
, though it refused to engage in any large scale preference deal.
2016 federal election
In the
2016 federal election, the Science Party fielded two candidates each for the senate in NSW and Tasmania and one in Victoria. To avoid being placed in the ungrouped column, the Victorian and NSW candidates shared the column with the candidate from the
Australian Cyclists Party
The Australian Cyclists Party was a minor political party in Australia. It was registered with the New South Wales Electoral Commission in 2014, and unsuccessfully contested the 2015 New South Wales state election. It was also registered later wit ...
. Together, they received 0.22% of the
vote
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an Constituency, electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision making, decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election camp ...
in Australia; 0.41% in NSW, 0.33% in Victoria, and without a shared column in Tasmania, received 0.39% of the vote.
For the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, ten candidates ran in
NSW:
Berowra (receiving 2.1% of votes), Cunningham (2.6%), Grayndler (1.3%), Greenway (1%), Kingsford Smith (2.2%), North Sydney(1.8%), Sydney (1.6%), Warringah (0.9%), Watson (1.9%) and Wentworth (1.2%).
2019 federal election
In 2019, four candidates ran for
senate in NSW, receiving 0.4% of the total vote. In the lower house, five candidates from NSW were put forward and the
results
A result is the outcome of an event.
Result or Results may also refer to: Music
* Results (album), ''Results'' (album), a 1989 album by Liza Minnelli
* ''Results'', a 2012 album by Murder Construct
* "The Result", a single by The Upsetters
* "The ...
were: Berowra (1.56% of votes), Grayndler: (2.73%), Kingsford Smith (1.69%), Sydney (3.42%), Watson (2.23%), as well as one from
VIC (Mallee, 0.53%) and one from
WA (Perth, 1.52%).
By-elections
2015 By-election: James Jansson ran under the title of The Future Party for North Sydney in NSW.
2017 and 2018 By-elections: The Science Party fielded Meow-Ludo Meow-Meow as a candidate in the
2017 New England by-election
A by-election for the House of Representatives (Australia), Australian House of Representatives seat of Division of New England, New England was held on 2 December 2017.
Previous incumbent Barnaby Joyce, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Aust ...
in response to the
2017–2018 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis. He had previously been the Science Party candidate in the
Division of Grayndler
The Division of Grayndler is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Grayndler covers most of Sydney's newly formed Inner West Council. The electorate includes the suburbs of Balmain, Birchgrove, Rozelle, Leichha ...
at the 2016 federal election. After subsequent resignations, the party fielded candidates in by-elections for the seats of
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...
,
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
,
Longman
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
and
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to:
People
* Wentworth (surname)
* Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder
* S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator
* Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
.
2020 By-election: James Jansson ran in
Eden-Monaro (NSW) for the 2020 By-election, receiving 1.13% of the vote.
Electoral results
See also
*
Candidates of the 2013 Australian federal election
*
Candidates of the 2016 Australian federal election
*
Candidates of the 2019 Australian federal election
*
List of political parties in Australia
The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 16 of the 151 members of the lower house ...
References
External links
Science Party WebsiteScience Party YouTube ChannelScience Party TwitterScience Party Facebook
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2013 establishments in Australia
High-speed rail in Australia
Internet in Australia
Political parties established in 2013
Republican parties in Australia
Science and technology in Australia
Science in society
Secularism in Australia
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