The Liberal Party of Australia (Australian Capital Territory Division), branded as Canberra Liberals, is the division of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

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 townships. ...

(ACT). The party has been in opposition in the

ACT Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

for much of its existence, but held power with the support of minor parties and independents between 1989 and 1991 and again between 1995 and 2001.

History

The first Liberal branch in Canberra was formed in order to field a candidate in the newly created

Division of Australian Capital Territory The Division of Australian Capital Territory was an Australian electoral division in the Territory of the same name. The division was created in 1949 and included the whole of the city of Canberra and surrounding rural areas. Prior to 1949, t ...

at the 1949 federal election. The first meeting of the branch was held at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

on 27 January 1949. The inaugural meeting of the Canberra women's branch was held on 29 June 1949. By 1961, there were three branches of the Liberal Party in the ACT, and a branch of the Young Liberals was created around the same time. The party held a number of seats in the

Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly The Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly was the main elected representative body of the Australian Capital Territory between 1975 and 1986, when preparations began to be made for the granting of self-government to the Territory. It ser ...

throughout its existence. In the first election under self-government in 1989 the Liberal Party won four seats. The Liberals were led in the Assembly by

Trevor Kaine Trevor Thomas Kaine (17 February 1928 – 3 June 2008), was an Australian politician who served as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1989 to 1991. Kaine was elected into a multi-member single electorate in the unicameral ...

, initially in opposition but in December 1989 the party formed a coalition known as the Alliance with the Residents Rally that lasted from December 1989 until June 1991 when a dispute over school closures broke up the coalition and returned the parties to opposition. Kaine was briefly replaced as leader by

Gary Humphries Gary John Joseph Humphries (born 6 July 1958) is a Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. He was a member of the Australian Senate representing the Australian Capital Territory for the Liberal Party of Australia from 2003 to 2 ...

, but regained the position a month later. Two years later he was replaced by

Kate Carnell Anne Katherine Carnell (née Knowlman; born 30 May 1955) is an Australian businesswoman and former Liberal Party politician, who served as the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1995 to 2000. Early life and p ...

. At the 1995 election the Liberals won 7 seats and Carnell formed a minority government with the support of independent members

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

and

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a ...

who would both subsequently serve as ministers. Carnell served as

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

until October 2000 when she resigned in advance of a no confidence motion over the increased costs of the

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

. She was succeeded by Humphries but the party lost power in the 2001 election. It has been in opposition ever since, having installed and removed multiple leaders such as

Zed Seselja Zdenko Matthew "Zed" Seselja (born 27 March 1977) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 2013 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party. He was the Minister for International Development and the ...

Jeremy Hanson Jeremy David Hanson, CSC, MLA (born 18 February 1967) is a former Australian Army officer and is an Australian politician with the Liberal Party, elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly as one of seven MLAs for the M ...

and

Alistair Coe Alistair Bruce Coe (born 9 January 1984) is an Australian politician and a former leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). He was a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly from 2008 to ...

. The current leader of the party is Elizabeth Lee. In the 2022 federal election, Seselja, who was the sole Canberra Liberals parliamentarian in federal parliament, lost his Senate seat to independent

David Pocock David Willmer Pocock (born 23 April 1988) is an Australian politician and former professional rugby union player. Raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe, Pocock moved to Australia as a teenager and played for the Australia national rugby team. He played p ...

. This left the Canberra Liberals with no representation in the 47th Parliament. A review into the territory division's defeat at the election would be headed by former WA Liberal leader

Mike Nahan Michael Dennis Nahan (born 2 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia's Western Australian branch and Leader of the Opposition from the 2017 state election until his resignation in June 201 ...

and former Victorian Liberal senator

Helen Kroger Helen Evelyn Kroger (née Madden; born 11 March 1959) is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing the state of Victoria from 2008 to 2014. She was the president of the Victorian division of ...

. The review would include an examination of the Canberra Liberals and its electoral performance among different voter segments, and would propose strategies to regain federal representation.

Leaders

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Party Of Australia (Australian Capital Territory) Liberal Party of Australia members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly

Political parties in the Australian Capital Territory