The Unity Party was a small multiculturist party in Australia, formed in 1997 and primarily active in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It was formed with the aim of opposing the rise of the controversial

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

politician

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian ...

. Although initially billed as a party to unite Australians of all ethnicities against racism, Unity failed to draw significant support outside Australia's East Asian ethnic communities. After the demise of Pauline Hanson as a political force (prior to her return to politics in the late 2010s), Unity shifted focus onto ethnic community affairs at a local government level.

History

Formation

Unity attracted much attention when it was founded in 1997, with Peter Wong,

Mary Kalantzis Professor Mary Kalantzis (born 1949) is an Australian author and academic, and is a former dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the United States. Her work examines Australian multiculturalism. ...

, Bill Cope and Jason Yat-Sen Li among those involved in its creation. The party ran candidates in almost every

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 ...

seat at the 1998 election. While they had hopes of winning a Senate seat in

with Jason Li, he fell well short. However, the party outpolled the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

and

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

in some House of Representatives seats. In the NSW Federal seat of Fowler, investment banker Andrew Su outpolled both the Democrats and One Nation. Subsequently, in the 1999 NSW State Election, Su went on to poll more than the Liberals, Greens and Democrats in the safe Labor seat of

Cabramatta Cabramatta ('Cabra') is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Cabramat ...

. The Unity Party was formally registered 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 ...

on 25 August 1998 under the name "Unity – Say No to Hanson".

Decline

As the Hanson movement began to disintegrate, it also negated Unity's main platform, and the party soon fell into internal tensions. The party's founder, Dr. Peter Wong, won a seat in the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

with just 1% of the vote. This came against the backdrop of a series of resignations, including that of Li. Wong soon stepped down as leader in favour of a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

Australian in an attempt to broaden the party's base. Unity's activities largely died down throughout 2000 and Wong acted as a virtual independent in the Legislative Council. However, with the re-emergence of Hanson's One Nation party at the 2001 Western Australian state election, the party again came together and put together a large slate of candidates for the federal election that year. Despite having several prominent candidates (such as former

Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The c ...

member

Wellington Lee Wellington Lee, (17 September 1925 – 25 December 2022) was an Australian politician and pharmacist who served as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1999 to 2000. Life and career Lee was born on 17 September 1925, in Darwin in Australi ...

in Victoria), they fell even further short of winning a seat in either house of federal parliament. After their failure to break into federal parliament in 2001, Unity largely shifted its attentions to local government, running a number of candidates for local councils in largely non-white areas, primarily in suburban Sydney. It was deregistered by the AEC on 13 November 2003 for failing to have at least 500 members as required by electoral law. The party did not run any candidates in the 2004 federal election. Wong continued to represent Unity in the NSW Parliament, until the expiry of his term in March 2007. At the March 2007 NSW state election, lead Unity Upper House candidate, Le Lam, won 1.2% of the vote, which was insufficient to gain election. Consequently, Unity no longer holds seats in any Australian parliament. The party did not contest the 2011 NSW state election, although

did. The party contested one

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

seat (

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George, New South ...

) in the 2015 state election, receiving 7.9% of the vote.

Youth faction

Unity also had a youth division, called Young Unity.

Elected representatives

New South Wales

NSW Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

** Peter Wong (1999-2007) *

Auburn City Council The Auburn City Council (formally City of Auburn) was a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Greater Western Sydney region of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to its 2016 merger, the council area was located about west ...

**Jack Au (until at least 2009) **Le Lam (1999-2011) *

Burwood Council The Municipality of Burwood (also known as Burwood Council) is a local government area in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Mayor of the Municipality is Cr. John Faker, a member of the Labor Party. T ...

Ernest Wong Ernest Kwok Chung Wong () is a Hong Kong-born Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2013 to 2019. Personal and early life Ernest Wong was born in Hong Kong and studied at ...

(2000-2005) * Canterbury Council **Joshua Nam *

Fairfield City Council The Fairfield City Council is a local government area in the west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, and the cou ...

**Thang Ngo (1999-2008) * Kogarah City Council **Annie Tang (elected 1999) * Strathfield Council **Alfred Tsang (2000-2005) * Willoughby City Council **Sylvia Chao (elected 2004)

Victoria

(1998-2001)

Past presidents

* Peter Wong (1997–1999, 2007–2009) *

Past vice-presidents

* Adriane Hassapis (1999)

Prominent past members

Randa Abdel-Fattah Randa Abdel-Fattah (born 6 June 1979) is an Australian writer. Randa was born in Australia and her debut novel, '' Does My Head Look Big in This?'', was published in 2005. Early life and education Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney, New South Wal ...

, writer *

Silma Ihram Silma Ihram (born Anne Frances Beaumont; ) is an Australian pioneer of Muslim education in Western Sydney, founder and former school Principal of the 'Noor Al Houda Islamic College' in Sydney, and a campaigner for racial tolerance. She was als ...

, Muslim educationist * Sarah Kemp, actress * Andrew Su, ex investment banker and Chief Executive Officer, Compass Global Markets * Jason Yat-Sen Li, member of the

NSW Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Hous ...

elected for the Labor Party at the 2022 Strathfield state by-election

References

External links

Unity Party Australia official website

Unity Party WA

Young Unity
{{New South Wales political parties Anti-racism in Australia Multiculturalism in Australia Political parties established in 1997 Defunct political parties in Australia