Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia logo.

The Liberal Party of Australia is a conservative leaning political party based in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 by Sir Robert Menzies. Pig Iron Bob as he was known to his detractors kept the Liberal Party in power during much of the post war boom. As with many other western democracies the winds of change swept through Australia and the Liberal Party was ousted from power by Gough Whitlam and the Australian Labor Party in 1972.

The Liberals in general believe in low levels of government intereference in the economy and are understood to be more socially conservative than their more left wing political foes, the Labor Party.

Until recent times the Liberal Party occupied the centre of Australian poltics. The Liberals have recently moved more to the right of politics as the Labor Party has moved to the centre.

The Liberal Party is divided into state based divisions. The Liberals contest both state and federal elections. The Liberals do not officially contest local government elections, however many party members stand for local council elections in their own right.

Since 1996 the Liberals have governed Australian under the leadership of John Howard, a champion of neo-liberal ideas.