The National Defence League (NDL) was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

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 political ideology ...

, founded in 1891 by MLC Richard Baker in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a 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 of Australia's states and territories ...

as an immediate response to the perceived threat from

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

. Though renamed the Australasian National League (ANL) in 1896, it was still often referred to by its former name. It lasted until the 1910 election, after which it merged with the

Liberal and Democratic Union The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian political party formed by early liberals, as opposed to the conservatives. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader, Archibald Peake, ...

and the

Farmers and Producers Political Union The Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU) was an independent conservative agrarian political party founded in South Australia in reaction to Labor, keen to fend off a perceived threat to the FPPU's interests against a rising labour moveme ...

to become the Liberal Union. The NDL, composed of Adelaide businessmen, professional men and

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal s ...

, organised to oppose: Labor and the United Trades and Labour Council, perceived

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, increased

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

, the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

, state

conciliation Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering te ...

and

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

, and a

single tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...

. The NDL stood for 'the preservation of law, order and property' and was opposed to 'all undue class influence in Parliament'. The party's highest vote was 30.6 percent at the 1896 election. The highest number of seats won by the party was 20 (37% of seats) at the 1893 election. Its highest proportion was 17 of 42 seats (40.5% of seats) at the 1902 election. Many candidates and MPs received election endorsement only rather than being chosen as an official candidate. The current South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of South Australia claims on its website that the party originated with the NDL."The South Australian Liberal Party had its origin in 1891 under the title of the National Defence League." - History: saliberal.org.au
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Notes

References

To Constitute a Nation: A Cultural History of Australia's Constitution - by Helen Irving, 1999Sound of Trumpets: History of the Labour Movement in South Australia - by Jim Moss, 1985
Defunct political parties in South Australia Conservative parties in Australia Political parties established in 1891 1891 establishments in Australia {{australia-party-stub

See also

Notes

References