The Liberal Democratic Party, shortened as LDP, Liberal Democrats, or Lib Dems, is an

Australian political party 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 ...

founded in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 2001. The party espouses smaller government and supports policies that are based on

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

principles, such as lower taxes, opposing restrictions on

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...

, decentralisation, utilising nuclear energy, and the relaxation of smoking laws. The LDP is a registered party 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 ...

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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

and is also registered for federal elections with 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 ...

. As of May 2021, it has two representatives 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 C ...

Tim Quilty Timothy Jamin Quilty is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Democratic Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2018 and 2022, representing Northern Victoria Region. He was not successful in his re-election to the Legis ...

and David Limbrick, and elected representatives in some local governments. In April 2022, Senator

Sam McMahon Samantha Jane McMahon (born 11 December 1967) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for the Northern Territory between the 2019 federal election and the 2022 federal election. McMahon is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party ...

, sitting as an independent after resigning from the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

in January 2022, joined the Liberal Democrats, giving the party representation in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a t ...

. However, she lost her seat in the 2022 federal election and the party was deregistered at the federal level on 19 July 2022.

History

Formation

The Liberal Democratic Party was founded in 2001 as a political party registered in the

. It first contested elections in the 2001 ACT election, receiving 1 percent of the vote. The party also contested the 2004 ACT election, receiving 1.3 percent of the vote. In 2006, changes to the Electoral Act by the Howard government forced all parties without parliamentary representation to deregister and re-register under stricter naming rules. Advised by the Australian Electoral Commission that federal registration under the original name was uncertain given opposition by 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 A ...

, the party chose to register federally as the Liberty and Democracy Party in 2007. The Liberty and Democracy Party contested

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

, winning 17,048 votes (0.14 percent) in the lower house and 16,942 votes (0.13 percent) in the upper house. In 2008, the party successfully applied to the Australian Electoral Commission to change its federally registered name to Liberal Democratic Party. During this period, the party remained registered under its original name in the

(ACT).

Initial electoral contests

In 2010, the party contests 2010 federal election, receiving 1.8 percent of the national

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

vote and an average of 1.3 percent across the 21 lower house seats it contested, with a best of 5.52 percent in

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

. In 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party had its first successful election win. Jeff Pettett was elected as a

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

to the

Ku-ring-gai Council Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is named after the Guringai Aboriginal people who were thought to be the traditional owners of the are ...

in northern metropolitan Sydney at the New South Wales local government elections, gaining 24 per cent of vote in the absence of Liberal Party candidates. Clinton Mead was elected as a

to the Campbelltown Council in southern metropolitan Sydney at the New South Wales local government elections Prior to the 2012 Ramsay and Port Adelaide state by-elections in South Australia, the polls in '' The Advertiser'' newspaper gave the LDP 23 percent and 14 percent of the vote respectively in the absence of Liberal Party candidates. The LDP ended up with votes of 13.3 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. The paper described the LDP as "a hardline liberal party that demands abolition of government welfare as well as the minimum wage, seatbelts and bike helmets. It backs legalisation of marijuana and increased freedom to access pornography". At the 2013 federal election, LDP candidate David Leyonhjelm was elected to the Senate after polling the third highest vote in the state of

after the

and the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. According to Leyonhjelm, a portion of their vote probably came from their 'first position' on the long senate ballot paper and voters potentially being confused with his party and other contesting parties such as the Liberals, 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 Austral ...

and the Christian Democratic Party. However, Leyonhjelm points to the fact that the Liberal Democrats' vote in South Australia, where they were fifth on the ballot, rose 3 percentage points. He also points to the fact that the donkey vote generally only produces swings of +1 or 2 percentage points to the party listed first on the ballot. Leyonhjelm organised preferences for several different, but closely entwined, political parties seeking election to the Senate, including the Outdoor Recreation Party, Smokers' Rights Party and the

Republican Party of Australia The Republican Party of Australia was a minor Australian political party dedicated to ending the country's links with the United Kingdom and establishing a republic. It was formed in 1982 and registered by the Australian Electoral Commission on ...

. Australian Sex Party candidate

Fiona Patten Fiona Heather Patten (born May 1964) is a former Australian politician. She is the leader of the Reason Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until she ...

alleged Leyonhjelm intentionally failed to lodge ticket voting preferences forms, reneging on a preference deal, but Leyonhjelm claimed that there was a mistake entering the AEC fax number. The Liberal Democrats were not 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 ...

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 ...

during the election which assisted in negotiating preference flows between minor parties. On 1 July 2014, David Leyonhjelm became the Liberal Democratic Party's first senator. Shortly after David Leyonhjelm's Senate victory, Liberal Democrats councillor Clinton Mead was elected Mayor of the City of Campbelltown in New South Wales. In 2015, the Liberal Democrats registered with the

Victorian Electoral Commission Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatu ...

(VEC), and announced it would field upper-house candidates in the upcoming Victorian state election on 29 November 2014. In 2016, the Liberal Party sought to challenge the name of the party with the electoral commission, but ultimately abandoned the action. David Leyonhjelm was re-elected with a 3.1 percent (−6.4) primary vote, or 139,000 votes, at the 2016 double dissolution federal election. Gabriel Buckley, the LDP's lead candidate in Queensland, marginally misses out on a seat. WA elections were held 11 March 2017 where the states first LDP member,

Aaron Stonehouse Aaron Stonehouse (born 29 June 1990) is an Australian politician. He was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council at the 2017 state election, as a Liberal Democratic Party member in South Metropolitan Region. His term began on 22 ...

was elected. In May 2017, former

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and political commentator

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

left the

and joined the LDP. In 2018 candidates

and David Limbrick were elected to the

(state upper house). In the same year,

left the party to become the leader of One Nation NSW division. In 2019, David Leyonhjelm announced that he will be quitting federal parliament in order to contest the New South Wales state election. This resulted in Duncan Spender being sworn in to fill Leyonhjelm's former seat until the next Federal election. David Leyonhjelm did not get elected in the 2019 New South Wales election securing only 0.46 of a seat quota. Duncan Spender also lost their Senate seat in the 2019 election. In the Victorian Local Government election of 2020 the party fielded 11 candidates state-wide. Two endorsed candidates were elected, Olga Quilty in Wodonga with a 5.83% first preference vote against 18 other candidates and Paul Barker in Torquay with a 11.67% first preference vote against 9 other candidates.

Recent developments

On 18 May 2017, the Liberal Democratic Party formed a 'conservative bloc' with One Nation and the

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...

in the Western Australia Legislative Council. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victorian MPs Quilty and Limbrick became outspoken critics of the Victorian Parliament, the Federal Parliament, and Australia's COVID response in whole. On August 17, 2021, while the Victorian Parliament was closed due to restrictions, the two protested park closures on the steps of Parliament in the presence of armed police. They refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for MP's, with Limbrick publicly destroying his vaccination status card. In May 2021 the party founder Dr John Humphreys was re-elected to the position of National President. In July 2021,

Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...

, the former Premier of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and Leader of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

, resigned from the LNP, stating the LNP candidate in the

2021 Stretton state by-election A by-election was held on 24 July 2021 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Stretton following the death of Duncan Pegg. Background Duncan Pegg was first elected at the 2015 election defeating incumbent Freya Ostapovitch on a swi ...

was "let down by a party and leadership that never stands up for anything". In August 2021, he announced he had joined the LDP to run as the party's lead Senate candidate in Queensland at the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth cons ...

. On 16 October 2021, Quilty, Limbrick, and other opposition MPs were ejected from Victorian Parliament for refusing to disclose their vaccination status. After two weeks of exclusion, the MP's submitted their vaccination status on October 28, 2021, in order to return to parliament to oppose the legislative agenda of the government. On 23 November 2021, the LDP announced a preference deal with the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

in the upcoming Australian elections where each party would encourage its members to choose the other as their second preference. On 24 November 2021 Krystle Mitchell, an acting Senior Sergeant of the Victorian Police who resigned after speaking publicly against enforcing health orders, announced she would be running for Federal Senate with the Liberal Democrats as their second in Victoria. According to The Age, between November 2018 and November 2021, the Liberal Democratic Party's Legislative Council members voted with the Andrews Government's position 22.1% of the time, which was less than the opposition

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

(28.9%). Due to changes in the ''

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 The ''Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918'' is an Act of the Australian Parliament which continues to be the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918. The Act was introd ...

'' and a subsequent objection to the party's name by 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 Liberal Democratic Party applied to the

(AEC) to change its name to the Liberty and Democracy Party in February 2022 in order to remain registered. The party then withdrew the name change application on 22 March 2022. On 1 April 2022, the AEC gave notice to the party that it would consider deregistering the latter, giving one month for the party to appeal the notice. However, as the writs for the May federal election were issued the following week on 11 April, the party register then would be "frozen" and this meant the party was allowed to contest the election with its current name. On 8 April 2022, Senator

joined the party after defecting from the

in January. This gave the federal parliamentary representation to the Liberal Democratic Party. McMahon would also be the lead Senate candidate for the party at the May federal election. She was unsuccessful in her election and the party lost parliamentary representation. AEC's consideration to deregister the party continued after the writs for the election were returned in June, and the party was deregistered at the federal level on 19 July 2022.

Policies and views

The LDP states that it adheres to

small government Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...

and ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

'' principles coupled with what the party considers as a high regard for individual freedom and individual responsibility. LDP supported policies include:

National Policy

* Opposes government imposed restrictions and mandates curtailing personal freedoms * Support of citizen-initiated referendums, fixed parliamentary terms,

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...

s and voluntary voting * Federal budgets which are neither in surplus, nor deficit, but balanced * Support of a 20%

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of use ...

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

with a $40,000 tax free threshold * Supports voluntary

superannuation A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payment ...

* Supports freezing and decentralising the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

* Supports utilisation of nuclear energy * Supports decentralising

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

* Supports

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

and opposes

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

* Opposes

mass surveillance Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by local and federal governments or governmental organizati ...

and digital identities

Current and past policies and views

* Ending the

war on drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...

- by legalisation of all drugs that are less harmful than both

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

(for example

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

) and decriminalisation of all other drugs * Supporting the implementation of

pill testing Drug checking or pill testing is a way to reduce the harm from drug consumption by allowing users to find out the content and purity of substances that they intend to consume. This empowers users to make safer choices: to avoid more dangerous substa ...

* Legalisation of

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

* Abolition of coercive psychiatry * Ending

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

and

nanny state Nanny state is a term of British origin that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective or interfering unduly with personal choice. The term likens such a government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing. An early ...

control (e.g. the now-lifted Sydney lockout laws) * Support of competitive

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single ...

and political

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

* Support of extensive

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

: end government ownership of business enterprises including the ABC, SBS,

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post ...

, government owned public schools, government owned public hospitals, electricity generation and public transport services * Extensive reduction of taxes and fines,

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

regulations and

government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual ...

including

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

and the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, replacing most with a compulsory superannuation payment to fund social services and compulsory insurance cover for those whose balance does not meet a mandated minimum * Support for

commercial off-the-shelf Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...

and military off-the-shelf defense acquisitions where possible * Deregulate industry to the greatest extent possible to build its international competitiveness * Support of extensive

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

s and

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

* Support of the most efficient and effective electricity generation, with no options off the table * Support of market over government responses to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

* Opposition to industry

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

including

corporate welfare Corporate welfare is a phrase used to describe a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment for corporations. The definition of corporate welfare is sometimes restricted to direct government subsidie ...

* Support the relaxation of foreign investment requirements and removal of restrictions against foreign ownership * Call for reform to the anti-dumping legislation * Opening up and removing the locking up of our state forests and national parks and proper management and conservation to prevent bushfires * Support for increasing barriers for immigrants to acquire Australian citizenship * Maximisation of freedom of travel administered by a general immigration tariff on all non-humanitarian immigrants from other nations to replace the existing quota system * Support of

free migration Free migration or open immigration is the position that people should be able to migrate to whatever country they choose with few restrictions. From a human-rights perspective, free migration may be seen to complement Article 13 of the Univers ...

agreements with more nations such as the current Australia/New Zealand agreement * Unauthorised arrivals temporarily detained for health and security checks, transparent process for determining refugee status, community release under bail-like conditions while status is determined * Removal of

sin tax A sin tax is an excise tax specifically levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society and individuals, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, candies, soft drinks, fast foods, coffee, sugar, gambling, and pornography. In contrast to Pigovian ta ...

es (including for alcohol and tobacco) * Equality before the law, including opposition to affirmative action * Support of

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

owners' rights * Support of

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

, cycling, fishing, bushwalking, hunting, logging, 4WD and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

rights * Opposition to government-mandated food labelling for religious purposes * Decriminalise means to

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

(including pepper spray, tasers and firearms under some circumstances) * Restore to the States the power to impose income taxes and other taxes currently reserved to the Commonwealth * Cease all Commonwealth involvement in health and education * Marriage privatisation or getting the government out of the marriage business * Some support for

Pacific Solution Pacific Solution is the name given to the Government of Australia policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially imple ...

of regional processing of asylum seekers in

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in ...

and Papua New Guinea * Exemption for Sikh Australians from mandatory helmet laws * Opposition to the introduction of laws for individual groups, such as Sharia law or Aboriginal law * Opposition to government-funded foreign aid, other than short-term Humanitarian aid, humanitarian relief, in favour of Charitable organization, private charity

Election results

Federal parliament

State parliament

New South Wales

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

Political representatives

Current members of parliament

;Victoria * David Limbrick –

, 2018–present

Past members of parliament

;Australia * David Leyonhjelm –

, 2014–2019 *

–

, 2022–2022 * Duncan Spender –

, 2019–2019 ;Victoria *

–

, 2018–2022 ;Western Australia *

– Western Australia Legislative Council, 2017–2021

Donors

The Australia Institute's 2019 report found that the Liberal Democratic Party had received political donations of $37,311 from pro-gun groups between July 2011 and March 2019. The report contextualises their donations as similar in value to the Nationals, Labor and Country Alliance, whilst being less than those to Katter's Australia Party, the Shooters Party, and the Liberal Party.

References

External links

Official website
{{New South Wales political parties 2001 establishments in Australia Political parties established in 2001 Classical liberal parties Liberal parties in Australia Libertarian parties Libertarianism in Australia Non-interventionist parties Political parties in Victoria (Australia)