History of the Liberal Democrats

From the beginning in 2001 until the name-change in 2023

The two current MPs from the former Liberal Democrats (now Libertarian Party)

The Liberal Democrats existed in Australia for 22 years — from 2001 until 2023. The party still exists, but since 2023 it is now known as the Libertarian Party. Given the party still exists it’s not possible to write the final history, but this article attempts to give a summary of the party up until the name-change.

As with my previous efforts at writing a party history, this one is split into eras that align with different party presidents. This approach may give the false impression that party presidents are able to dictate party activities, which is not true. The role of president is important, but so are the roles of executive members, party activists, and of course the elected representatives. Nonetheless I’ll continue with this format as a convenient way to break up the story.

1. The Humphreys Era

The first messy chapter was the “Humphreys era” (2001–04), which included our initial registration and campaigns for the ACT parliament. The party unofficially came to life in a flurry of activity in March 2001, when I released a party constitution, core principles, set of policies, plan for the coming year, and the forever controversial party name. Shortly afterwards we had our first party meeting at the Kingston Hotel, which included our future-Senator Duncan Spender. One of the enduring ironies of the LibDems is that the party was launched in Canberra, and many of the early members were public servants.

We managed to get registered just in time for the 2001 ACT election, where we ran candidates in all electorates and received 1% of the vote. Three years later we again ran across the territory and increased our vote slightly up to 1.3% of the vote. During these years we ran print and radio campaigns, letter boxed thousands of houses, held regular meetups, argued with early morning shock-jocks about drugs and tax, and gathered local and national media attention… all of which helped to slowly build our national network. During the 2001 campaign Duncan Spender and myself wrote and distributed a comprehensive policy manifesto (not available online; a few rare copies hidden in my garage), and another of our candidates (John Purnell-Webb) was fined $100 for smoking cannabis in front of the ACT legislative assembly. During one TV interview I was asked whether voters might confuse us with the Liberal Party, to which I answered that our supporters were too smart to accidentally vote for the Liberals.

During this time there was a brief merger with the Victorian-based People Power Party (run by Vern Hughes), branches set up in Sydney and Brisbane, and an early attempt at building a national executive… but most of the action was in Canberra. While we weren’t federally registered for the 2004 federal election, some of our members ran as candidates in QLD and NSW, with the most notable being future-MP Tim Quilty running for the Outdoor Recreation Party. It’s also worth mentioning Michael Sutcliffe as one of the unsung heroes who helped to keep the party on track during the early years. Michael would go on to be the President of LibDems QLD Division, and build an impressive team up in the sunshine state. Other notables of this era included Steve Clancy, Sam Ward, Gavin Knight, Jason Soon, and Frank Redpath.

2. The McAlary Era

The 2nd chapter of the party was the “McAlary era” (2005–07), named after new President David McAlary, who was also lead candidate for the party at the 2008 ACT election. This was a period of renewal, with the introduction of a new party constitution, a more effective federal executive, and federal registration.

During these years there was an injection of new people that would come play a prominent role in the party, many of them from Sydney. Central among the new recruits were future Senator David Leyonhjelm, future President Peter Whelan, and future Vice-President Terje Peterson. All three of these men were on the renewed 2007 federal executive, and were essential in building the party during these years. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts.

It’s not well known, but the party came close to getting Terje elected to the Senate back in 2007. For that election we had negotiated a dream set of preferences, and if we had received even half our average vote then Terje would have been elected and the party’s history would have been very different. Unfortunately, not only were we registered under the “wrong name” at the time, but even worse our Registered Officer accidentally applied to have the party only known by our acronym LDP on the 2007 ballot paper. The acronym meant nothing to most voters, and we received a very low vote… leaving the “Senator Terje” scenario to remain an interesting but unknown alternative history. These were our growing pains.

3. The Whelan Era

The 3rd chapter of our history was the “Whelan era” (2008–13) which marked the time when the party’s vote grew to our high-water mark under the leadership of the likable Peter Whelan. At the 2019 national convention Peter was recognised as one of the first inductees into the LibDem’s hall of fame. While we didn’t get anybody elected at the 2010 federal election, that was a breakthrough moment for the party as we achieved 1.8% of the nation-wide Senate vote, making us the 6th largest party in the country. For context, here is the top 10 from 2010:

1. Liberal National
2. Labor
3. Greens = 13.1%
4. Family First = 2.1%
5. Sex Party = 2.0%
6. Liberal Democrats = 1.8%
7. Shooters = 1.7%
8. Democratic Labour = 1.1%
9. Christians = 1.0%
10. One Nation = 0.6%

An important part of this chapter was the involvement of “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery (who was our 2010 NSW Senate candidate), and our de-facto coalition with several other minor parties. Ever since our cooperation with the Outdoor Recreation Party in the 2004 federal election the two parties had continued to work closely, and by 2011 were effectively “sister parties”. Several LibDem members were also involved with the creation of the Smokers Rights’ Party, which became another “sister party”. Finally, we had a close working relationship with the Republican Party. None of these other parties still exist.

This was also the era when the party faced a “constitutional crisis” of sorts. The South Australian division of the party went rogue by holding on to membership lists and fees and attempting to create a separate party. The crisis was eventually resolved, though the consequent constitutional change and new party structure were (and remain) controversial.

In 2012 the party again ran in the ACT election, receiving an average of 1.5% per electorate. In the same year we achieved our first local council victories by Clinton Mead (2012–16), Ben Buckley (2012–20) & Jeff Pettett (2012–17)… and shortly afterwards Clinton Mead was elected as the first Liberal Democrat Mayor in Australia. These crucial middle years culminated at the 2013 federal election. Minor party success rests on hard work and good luck, and in 2013 the political gods smiled on us by giving us the first column in the massive NSW Senate ballot. This boosted our vote significantly, catapulting David Leyonhjelm into the Senate, and putting our party on the national stage. This result made us the 5th biggest party in the country:

1. Liberal Nationals
2. Labor
3. Greens = 8.7%
4. Palmer = 4.9%
5. Liberal Democrats = 3.9%
6. Xenophon = 1.9%
7. Sex Party = 1.4%
8. Family First = 1.1%
9. Shooters = 1.0%
10. Christians = 0.9%

Many people deserve to share the credit for these years. A complete list would require a longer history, but in addition to the names mentioned above, the party now also benefited from superstar local candidate Ben Buckley, the rockabilly trouble-maker Gabe Buckley (no relation), the hero of South Australia Michael Gameau, and former Workers Party stalwart Jim Fryar.

4. The Buckley Era

The 4th chapter of our party’s history was the “Buckley era” (2014–18), under the leadership of Gabe Buckley. This period overlaps with David Leyonhjelm’s time in the Senate, so could equally be known as the “Leyonhjelm era”. For many people reading this history, the Buckley/Leyonhjelm years may be the first time you heard of the party. The 2013 success led to a significant boost in media coverage and public profile for the party, resulting in an influx of new members, as well as cash. These were exciting times and a steep learning curve for everybody involved, and in my opinion Senator David Leyonhjelm did a good job at representing libertarian ideas in a difficult political environment.

This chapter saw the party get registered in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and New South Wales. Early state-based results were mixed, with the party only getting 0.6% in the 2014 SA election, but achieving an impressive 3.1% in the 2014 VIC election, and seeing our ACT vote rise from 1.5% to 2.1% in the 2016 territory election.

The next challenge for the party came at the 2016 federal election, which saw our support drop from 3.9% in 2013 down to 2.2% in 2016. Thanks to the double-dissolution voting rules, this was enough to get David Leyonhjelm re-elected in NSW, and Gabe Buckley very nearly got elected in QLD, only narrowly missing out to One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts. Our party was again the 6th biggest party in the country, overtaking Palmer and his splinter groups but falling behind One Nation and Xenophon:

1. Liberal National
2. Labor
3. Greens = 8.7%
4. One Nation = 4.3%
5. Xenophon = 3.3%
6. Liberal Democrats = 2.2%
7. Hinch’s Justice = 1.9%
8. Shooters = 1.4%
9. Family First = 1.4%
10. Christians = 1.2%

While critics could point to the drop in vote as a step backwards, it should be remembered that the high 2013 results included a significant boost from the NSW donkey vote. The 2.2% vote received in 2016 was in line with the party’s average performance and was still a solid result.

The next few years saw a period of growth and evolution in the party. At the local level Tim Quilty was elected to the Wodonga Council (2016–18) and Sam Gunning was elected to the North Sydney Council (2017–21). At the state level, the party celebrated the important victory of Aaron Stonehouse in the 2017 WA election (with 1.8% of the vote), and then the dual victories of David Limbrick and Tim Quilty in the 2018 VIC election (with 2.5% of the vote). These victories made the Liberal Democrats one of the best represented minor parties in Australia. Some minor parties struggle once they have more than one representative. In contrast, even though various MPs had a mix of different personal styles and priorities, they were instinctively united by a shared libertarian philosophy and agenda, and none split from the party.

Senator Leyonhjelm continued to raise the profile of the party by contributing to several important debates and forcefully defending himself from media controversies. There was also the impressive 2nd place by John Gray in the Fremantle by-election and the credible 2.5% received in the 2018 SA election. This was also the time when former Labor leader Mark Latham and former Labor President Warren Mundine flirted with our party, sparking passionate discussion and strong opinions among members and party leaders.

Behind the scenes there was a new batch of dedicated volunteers, activists, and staffers who joined the old guard to help keep the party on track. Some notable additions included Nathan Thomason, Helen Dale, Anne Kerr, Andrew Cooper, Stuart Hatch, Les Hughes, Michael Noack, Catherine Buckley, Nicholas Umashev, Dean McCrae, Nicola Wright, Kate Fantinel, Jacob Gower, Abe Salt, Guy Jakeman, and apologies to the many others I’ve missed. The influx of excellent new volunteers, candidates and MPs gave the party more depth, and helped us to appeal to a broader audience.

5. The Cooper/Russell Era

The 5th chapter of the party is the “Cooper/Russell era” (2019–20), with Andrew Cooper and Lloyd Russell each serving one year as President. These were tumultuous years, and the party suffered a couple of setbacks.

David Leyonhjelm chose to resign from the Senate to run as the lead LibDems candidate at the 2019 NSW election. Unfortunately, despite a credible 3.2% primary vote, we didn’t pick up enough preferences and narrowly missed out on the final spot. Despite this unfortunate end to his political career, David will always be remembered for being the first Liberal Democrat Senator, and his tireless efforts in building the party.

In the Senate, David was replaced by his long-time staffer Duncan Spender. Despite only having a handful of weeks to make an impact, Duncan impressed everybody with his tireless campaigning, eloquent advocacy of liberty, and a memorable maiden speech. It wasn’t enough though, and in the 2019 federal election we lost our Senate spot, and dropped down to the 9th biggest party in the country:

1. Liberal Nationals
2. Labor
3. Greens = 10.2%
4. One Nation = 5.4%
5. Palmer = 2.4%
6. HEMP = 1.8%
7. Shooters = 1.7%
8. Animals = 1.3%
9. Liberal Democrats = 1.2%
10. Democratic Labour = 1.0%

Given the new voting rules, we knew that we would likely lose our Senate spot. Nonetheless, the unexpected loss in the NSW state election and the drop of our national vote down to 1.2% sparked some introspection and finger-pointing. It’s always good to learn from our mistakes, but we should avoid the temptation to overinterpret the fluctuations of politics. The 2019 elections were dominated by culture war issues, which benefited some other minor parties but weren’t ideal for a classical liberal party of principle.

By 2020 normal politics was giving way to Covid-mania, and a new inexperienced National Executive had to wrestle with some difficult internal conflict and a steep learning curve. The WA division also saw some tough times, ending with a disappointing election in early 2021 where the vote dropped from 1.8% to 0.6% and Aaron Stonehouse narrowly missed out on re-election. To add insult to injury the party was forced to delay the 2021 national conference due to Covid restrictions.

Despite the setbacks, the Victorian party stayed strong, with the MPs being ably supported by the excellent efforts of Ash Blackwell, Rob McCathie, Angus Ward, Dean Rossiter, Chloe Glasson, Lachlan Christie, and newly elected Councillors Paul Barker (Surf Shire) & Olga Quilty (Wodonga). It’s also worth paying homage to the hard work of Bede Mudge, Anthony Bull, Richard Davies, Sam Lee, Rob Cribb, Ben Cove, and the notable return of Terje Petersen to the federal executive.

6. Back to the Future

The 6th and final chapter of the party under the old name was my return to the national presidency (2021–22). This period may be too recent for a clear-eyed history, but it was certainly full of excitement and challenges.

The unprecedented party growth over these two years was driven by the outstanding performance of our Victorian MPs, combined with an influx of excellent new party members, and a federal policy reset. David Limbrick and Tim Quilty were leaders in the broader freedom movement during the authoritarian period of Covid lockdowns & mandates, with David being referred to as the real leader of the Victorian opposition. They were joined by some high-profile new recruits including John Ruddick, Ross Cameron, Campbell Newman, Tom Switzer, Renee Gorman, Tim Andrews, Topher Field, and many other great and good freedom-fighters across the country. We even picked up a sitting Senator in Sam McMahon from the Northern Territory, once again giving us representation in the federal parliament.

The announcement of our Covid policy in August 2021 was our largest single day of fundraising and membership growth in the party’s history, and the subsequent release of the Freedom Manifesto positioned the party as a principled thought-leader at the moment when the country so desperately needed real leadership.

Our growth sparked a reaction, with the Liberal/National government passing unprecedented new legislation with lightning speed to ban our party name. We fought the government all the way to the Supreme Court, but ultimately lost the case with a split 3–4 decision in early 2022. The consequence was that the party would ultimately change name (much to the delight of many people who bristled under the old name), though it would take roughly another year for that process to fully play out. In the meantime there were three crucial elections coming up — federal, Victoria & NSW.

The 2022 federal election was the largest campaign in our history, with more funding, a record 117 candidates, and more volunteers than ever before. We had a star lineup of lead Senate candidates, including David Limbrick (attempting to make the jump from the Victorian parliament to the federal Senate), sitting Senator Sam McMahon, Campbell Newman (attempting a political comeback after previously being QLD Premier), John Ruddick, Ian Markos, Kate Fantinel, and Topher Field. We ultimately fell short of winning, but our vote improved from 1.2% up to 2.3% and nine lower house candidates received over 5% of the vote. This result meant we are the seventh biggest party in the country based on the total Senate vote:

1. Liberal Nationals
2. Labor
3. Greens = 12.7%
4. One Nation = 4.3%
5. UAP = 3.5%
6. Cannabis = 3.3%
7. Liberal Democrats = 2.3%
8. Animals = 1.6%
9. Shooters = 1.0%
10. Great Australia = 0.6%

We didn’t get long to relax before jumping straight into the Victorian campaign. This was crucial. Historically, many minor parties that get into parliament go on to lose at the next election, and if that happened in Victoria then the party would not have any representation at federal or state level. A lot was resting on the shoulders of sitting MPs David Limbrick & Tim Quilty, state President Ash Blackwell, and other lead candidates including Maya Tesa, Paul Silverberg, Rob McCathie, Matt Ford, Anthony Cursio & Julia McGrath. While Tim sadly missed out on reelection, David was reelected and (despite much greater political competition) the party vote rose slightly from 2.5% to 2.6%. Based on the upper house vote, the Liberal Democrats became the 6th biggest party in Victoria:

1. Labor
2. Liberal / National
3. Greens = 10.3%
4. Cannabis = 4.1%
5. Democratic Labor = 3.5%
6. Liberal Democrats = 2.6%
7. Shooters = 2.1%
8. One Nation = 2.0%
9. Family First = 2.0%
10. Justice = 1.5%

Once again the party had to move straight back into campaign mode, this time with the focus on the upcoming NSW state election. Sadly the NSW division of the party took a short detour into a political civil war due to a fallout between the lead candidate John Ruddick and the NSW state executive. This culminated in a Special General Meeting being called for January 2023, where the party overwhelmingly re-endorsed John Ruddick as the candidate and elected a new state executive led by Ross Cameron and Rob Cribb.

The Ruddick campaign went on to form a working alliance with various activists from the Covid freedom campaign, and win the party’s first victory in NSW with an impressive 3.5% of the vote. Based on the upper house vote, the Liberal Democrats became the 6th biggest party in NSW:

1. Labor
2. Liberal / National
3. Greens = 9.1%
4. One Nation = 5.9%
5. Cannabis = 3.7%
6. Liberal Democrats = 3.5%
7. Shooters = 3.1%
8. Animals = 2.2%
9. Teal = 1.3%
10. Family First = 1.3%

These two state election victories put the party on a solid footing for the years to come, but that story will be part of a new era. At the beginning of 2023 I stood down as president and was replaced by the popular Victorian councillor Paul Barker. In addition to many of the names above (who continued their vital roles), other notables who emerged during these years included Jonathan Hoyle, Liza Tazewell, Jordan Dittloff, Tim Lester, Daniel Lewkovitz, Mark Hornshaw, Cameron Shamsabad, Eloise Williams, Victor Tey, Jacqui Holroyd, Jake McCoull, Kenelm Tonkin, James Hol, Trevor Smith, Daniel Turner, Paul Vidovich, Chrysten Abraham, Gary Biggs, Craig Proudley, and many more too numerous to mention.

7. Libertarian Party

At the 2023 AGM the party voted on a new constitutional structure which will significantly change how the party operates. At the same time the party voted to change name to the Libertarian Party. This really is the start of a new era, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

To be continued…