The Victorian Liberal Party (VLP), often called the Hollway Liberals, was an independent political party formed on 27 October 1954 from a grouping of supporters of

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lead ...

, a former leader of the

Liberal and Country Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), branded as Liberal Victoria, and commonly known as the Victorian Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as ...

and

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

. The extant Liberal and Country Party was the actual Victorian division of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. The party was formed from the Electoral Reform League, a political group formed by Hollway after his expulsion from the

, with the goal of re-distributing Victoria's electoral boundaries, which Hollway and his supporters saw as mal-apportioned in favour of the Country Party. With electoral reform implemented by John Cain's Labor government, the group became known as the "Hollway group". On 27 October 1954, the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

informed the assembly that Hollway's group had formally become an Opposition party. Hollway told reporters that he had attempted to unify opposition against the Labor Party, but that the Liberal and Country Party had rejected his overtures, leaving him no option but to form a "separate political entity". He stated that the VLP had been formed to bring "the true principles of

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

to the Parliament". In December 1954 Hollway issued an ultimatum to the Cain government, demanding it remove

price controls Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of good ...

or his party would use its two votes in the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

to defeat the Price Control Extension Bill, which would have extended government control of prices a further twelve months from its expiration date of 31 December. The government ignored the ultimatum, and the bill was defeated in the upper house, but Cain came to an agreement with Hollway to maintain supply. The party ceased to exist in 1955 when all four members of the party (Hollway,

Alexander Dennett Alexander Henry Dennett (1894 – 4 December 1956) was an Australian politician. He was born in Melbourne to John Dennett and Dorothy Neale and became an Anglican lay preacher in Gippsland before serving in World War I. On his return he beca ...

John Don John Don (10 September 1918 – 1 April 2013) was an Australian politician. He was born in Ballarat to solicitor Joseph Edwin Don and Mary Minnie Cross. He attended various state schools before studying at Melbourne University. During Wor ...

and Ray Tovell) lost their seats in the Legislative Assembly at the 1955 state election.

References

{{Political parties in Victoria (Australia) Defunct political parties in Victoria (state) Liberal parties in Australia Political parties established in 1954 1954 establishments in Australia Political parties disestablished in 1955 1955 disestablishments in Australia