The Independents Group were a short-lived

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

operating in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

. They briefly served as part of the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

government, alongside 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 ...

and

Residents Rally Residents Rally was an Australian political party, with four candidates elected to the first Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly at the 1989 Australian Capital Territory general election. Residents Rally were led by Canberra human ...

. When the 1989 election was held, the

No Self-Government Party The No Self-Government Party was a minor Australian Capital Territory political party that experienced limited success in the early years of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. Like Dennis Stevenson's Abolish Self-Government ...

emerged as the larger of the two anti-self-government groups in the Assembly, electing three members, Craig Duby, Carmel Maher and

David Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader (voiced by American actor James Earl Jones) in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanle ...

. However, unlike

Dennis Stevenson Dennis Ross Stevenson (born 12 November 1946) was an Australian politician. He was elected in the inaugural 1989 general election to serve in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, on a platform of abolishing self-government i ...

's Abolish Self-Government Coalition, the No Self-Government Party's focus soon began to change from their original single-issue basis. The first vote of the new Assembly saw Prowse voted in as the Speaker by the members. In late 1989,

, who were supporting the Follett

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government, began discussions aimed at forming a coalition government with the Liberals. They then turned to the No Self-Government Party, who accepted the offer. However, as opposition to self-government itself was a core basis of their party, and it would have been seen as somewhat odd for them to then join a government, Duby, and Maher disbanded the party, and reformed as the Independents Group. Prowse joined the Liberal party in July 1990. The new party then became the third member of the Alliance government, and Duby, the old party's former leader, became Minister for Urban Services. Prowse retained his position as Speaker. Whilst Duby was a vocal member of the government, and was often heard in the Assembly and media, Maher tended to be a less significant player in ACT politics. Nevertheless, the party were vital in sustaining the Alliance government for its eighteen-month lifespan. As long as the Alliance survived, however, they nevertheless maintained influence in decision-making. This was to end when the Liberal Party and Residents Rally fell out in late 1991, causing Residents Rally to move a no-confidence motion in the government. The Follett Labor government with Residents Rally and independents support returned to power. Prowse retained the Speakership. Soon after, on 19 November, realising that the Independents Group was effectively dead, Duby quit the party to form the Hare-Clark Independent Party. With her influence in the Assembly reduced to practically nil, Maher continued under the Independents Group until the 1992 election. Both Maher and Prowse retired at the election, and though Duby contested the election with his new party, he lost his seat. By the 1995 election, the Independents Group was entirely dead, with none its members playing any further role in ACT politics.

References

Defunct political parties in the Australian Capital Territory {{Australia-party-stub