Yellow Vest Australia
Australian Liberty Alliance
(2015–2019)
AbbreviationYVA[lower-alpha 1]
Founded28 July 2015[lower-alpha 2]
Dissolved4 September 2020 (4 September 2020)[3]
HeadquartersSouth Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Membership (2016)c. 2,000[4]
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing[6][12][13] to far-right[14]
Party affiliationParty for Freedom[lower-alpha 3]
Colors    Blue and Red
First logo of the Australian Liberty Alliance.

Yellow Vest Australia (YVA), until 9 April 2019 known as the Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA), was a minor right-wing to far-right[18] political party in Australia. The party was founded by members of the Q Society and has been described as the political wing of Q Society.[19] The leader was Debbie Robinson (President), who was also national president of the Q Society.[20] On 4 September 2020, the Australian Electoral Commission removed the Yellow Vest Australia from the registered political party list.[3]

The party's core policy was opposition to Islam, with policies focusing on Muslim immigration such as enforcing "integration over separation", replacing multiculturalism with an integrated multi-ethnic society and stopping public funding for "associations formed around foreign nationalities". They vowed to "stop the Islamisation of Australia".[20] Party president Debbie Robinson has made a number of Islam-critical statements including that Islam is "a totalitarian ideology that does not separate its law from its religious entity...Slowly but surely our Judeo-Christian values, ethics and customs are being replaced" and warned that "If we continue to tolerate Islam without understanding it, Australia as a free, secular democracy will be lost".

Other policies included promoting smaller government, privatising public broadcaster SBS and scaling down the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, opposing taxpayer-funded subsidies for renewable energy, promoting advanced nuclear energy, ending dual citizenship for new citizenship applicants, simplifying the tax system with less income tax and a stronger focus on GST, improving public healthcare by more efficient cooperation with the private healthcare sector, advancing the 'natural family', and restoring civil society.

Policies and philosophy

The party released a manifesto listing twenty key policy areas, including "smaller smarter government, integration over separation, real reconciliation: no place for apartheid in Australia". However, the party focused most of its efforts on its criticism of Islam. That included the party's policy to "stop the Islamisation of Australia",[21] and their efforts to bring to Australia noted anti-Islamic speakers such as Geert Wilders.[22]

Immigration

The party was focused on stopping immigration from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries into Australia. It wanted Australia to focus its refugee efforts to preference white South African refugees, which the party claims have been victims of South African farm attacks. It also called for Islamic organisations, including mosques and Islamic schools in Australia to respect the human rights and Australian law.

One of their stated goals is to defend human rights and prevent any Sharia court system from being established.[23]

Environment

The party claimed that they were "neither 'believers' nor 'deniers' when it comes to climate change". They were critical of propositions that taxing CO2 emissions would have a noticeable effect on the global climate system. ALA has raised doubts about the competency of certain scientists and that their studies "are not based on scientific fact, but on computerised speculations and consent among special interest groups", and about climate change in general with their claim that "extreme natural events were described in Australian poetry a century before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change created hysteria about rising sea levels".[24]

Electoral history

The Australian Liberty Alliance performed poorly at both state and federal elections it has contested.

The party was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 28 July 2015[25] and was officially launched at a private function on 20 October 2015 in Perth, with controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders and British anti-sharia activist Anne Marie Waters as keynote speakers.[26][27] The party had extensive connections with the international counter-jihad movement.[28]

At the 2016 Australian federal election, ALA fielded 13 senate candidates and 10 House of Representatives candidates. The party received only 25,337 primary votes in total in the House of Representatives and 102,982 primary votes or 0.74% of the total in the senate.[29] It recorded 0.66% of the senate vote in New South Wales and Victoria, 0.42% in South Australia, 0.33% in Tasmania, 1.08% in Queensland and 1.11% in Western Australia. Their best result in the House of Representatives was the Division of Farrer, where they polled 6.08%.[30] The party spent $1.5 million on the campaign.[31] On 7 April 2017, Kirralie Smith, a former candidate for the Australian Liberty Alliance and a member of the Q Society and Senate candidate for New South Wales in 2016, joined the Australian Conservatives.[32][33]

On 1 October 2018, ALA registered as a political party in Victoria, and contested the 2018 Victorian election.[34] Contesting only the district of Yan Yean, the party received 2.5% of the primary votes in the seat and 0.56% for the Victorian Legislative Council.[35] Avi Yemini ran for the party as the lead candidate for the Southern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council, where the party received 2,075 votes or 0.48% of the total.[36]

The party has contested several by-elections where it also polled poorly. The party polled 0.85% of the vote at the 2017 Bennelong by-election,[37] 1.39% at the 2018 Batman by-election,[38] 1.18% at the 2018 Perth by-election,[39] and 0.20% at the 2018 Wentworth by-election.[40]

On 9 April 2019, the AEC approved the party's name change to "Yellow Vest Australia", in time to allow the party to field candidates at the 2019 Australian federal election under the party's new name. The party nominated two candidates for the Senate for Victoria and Western Australia. Party president Debbie Robinson (who was also the president of Q Society and stood for the Senate in WA) stated that the new name was inspired by the yellow vests movement in France, claiming that the movement shared the party's representation of "disgruntled voters who are concerned about globalism, immigration (and) the cost of living". She also hoped the change would end confusion with the name of the Liberal Party of Australia.[41]

Federal parliament

House of Representatives
Election year # of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2016 25,337 0.19 (#13/45)
0 / 150
 Steady
Senate
Election year # of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of
overall seats		 +/–
2016 103,035 0.74 (#12/49)
0 / 40
0 / 76
 Steady
2019 3,263 0.02 (#45/45)
0 / 40
0 / 76
 Steady

State Election

Victorian Legislative Assembly
Election year # of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2018 1,232 0.04(#15/15)
0 / 88
 Increase 0
Victorian Legislative Council
Election year # of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 # of
overall seats		 +/–
2018 20,065 0.56(#17/19)
0 / 40
0 / 40
 Increase 0

Deregistration

In 2019, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) reviewed all registered political parties, following the review the Australian Liberty Alliance voluntarily de-registered in Victoria. The Australian Liberty Alliance cannot re-register as a political party until after the 2022 State election.[42]

In 2020, the Australian Electoral Commission removed the Yellow Vest Australia from the registered political party list.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Under the party's former name, the abbreviation was ALA.
  2. ↑ Founded in July 2015,[1] the party was formally re-named on 7 April 2019, 41 days before the 2019 federal election.[2]
  3. ↑ Party for Freedom's Geert Wilders was a keynote speaker at the foundation of the party in Perth[15] and was a high-profile figure touting an “anti-islam” party for Australia, based on his own party's values.[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ Robertson, Joshua (24 July 2015). "Reclaim Australia: 'concerned mums and dads' or a Trojan horse for extremists?". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ "Change of party name, abbreviation and logo – Australian Liberty Alliance" (PDF). aec.gov.au. Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
  3. 1 2 3 "Yellow Vest Australia Voluntary Deregistration" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission.
  4. 1 2 Bourke, Latika (7 April 2016). "Australian Liberty Alliance, the anti-Islam, Donald Trump-style party, claims major growth". Sydney Morning Herald.
  5. ↑ Barrett, Jonathan (26 October 2015). "Christian MP Fred Nile to work with anti-Islamic party inspired by Geert Wilders". Australian Financial Review (AFR).
  6. 1 2 3 "Wilders-backed ALA won't join Bernardi". Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). 11 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Bachelard, Michael (31 July 2015). "New Aussie anti-Islamic party guns for 20 per cent of the vote". Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ↑ "The Australian Liberty Alliance and the politics of Islamophobia". The Conversation. 12 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Charis, Chang (26 October 2015). "Is the Australian Liberty Alliance the next One Nation?". news.com.au.
  10. 1 2 Seccombe, Mike (25 February 2017). "Inside the sick, sad world of the Q Society and the Australian Liberty Alliance". thesaturdaypaper.com.au. The Saturday Paper. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Day, Lauren (21 October 2015). "Australian Liberty Alliance: Geert Wilders unveils Senate candidates amid warnings over 'blatant racism'". ABC News.
  12. ↑ "Anti-halal leader Kirralie Smith joins Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Controversial internet personality Avi Yemini trolls Australia Day protesters". news.com.au. 28 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Le Grand, Chip (26 September 2015). "Disgruntled Liberals explore far-right party options". The Australian.
  15. ↑ "Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders in Perth to launch anti-Islam party". ABC News. 20 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Medhora, Shalailah (9 October 2015). "Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders granted a visa for Australia". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ "Geert Wilders calls anti-Islamic ALA 'Australia's first freedom party' – video". The Guardian. 21 October 2015.
  18. ↑ far-right:
  19. ↑ "Debbie Robinson 🇦🇺 (@debbie1ala) | Twitter". twitter.com.
  20. 1 2 "australianlibertyalliance". www.australianlibertyalliance.org.au. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  21. ↑ Murray, Oliver (26 April 2016). "Far-right-wing parties after your vote on election day". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Wilders Senate candidates include ex-Army officer, anti-halal campaigner". ABC News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  23. ↑ proitservice (29 September 2015). "Australian Law and Constitution". www.australianlibertyalliance.org.au. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  24. ↑ "Natural Resources and Environment=". www.australianlibertyalliance.org.au. 29 September 2015. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  25. ↑ "Australian Liberty Alliance". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Safi, Michael (9 May 2016). "Would-be senator Angry Anderson says he feels Australia's 'pain'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  27. ↑ "Australian Liberty Alliance: Geert Wilders unveils Senate candidates amid warnings over 'blatant racism'". Australia: ABC News. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  28. ↑ Bessant, Judith; Devries, Melody; Watts, Rob (2021). Rise of the Far Right: Technologies of Recruitment and Mobilization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781786614933.
  29. ↑ "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  30. ↑ "Australian Electoral Commission Tally Room, retrieved 27 July 2016". Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  31. ↑ Seccombe, Mike (25 February 2017). "Inside the sick, sad world of the Q Society and the Australian Liberty Alliance". The Saturday Paper. Schwartz Media. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  32. ↑ Federal Politics (8 April 2017). "Anti-halal leader Kirralie Smith joins Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  33. ↑ "Kirralie Smith joins Australian Conservatives". Australian Conservatives. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  34. ↑ "Currently registered parties - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au.
  35. ↑ "State Election 2018 results". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  36. ↑ "State Election 2018: Southern Metropolitan Region". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  37. ↑ "Bennelong By-election". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  38. ↑ "Batman By-election". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  39. ↑ scheme=AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; corporateName=Australian Electoral Commission; address=50 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra. "House of Representatives division information". Australian Electoral Commission.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  40. ↑ "Wentworth, NSW". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  41. ↑ "Far-right party rebrands as 'Yellow Vest Australia' for elections". news.yahoo.com. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  42. ↑ "De-registration of the Australian Liberty Alliance". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
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