Conservatism in Australia

Conservatism in Australia refers to the political philosophy of conservatism as it has developed in Australia. Politics in Australia has since at least the 1910s been most predominantly a contest between the Labour movement in Australia and the combined forces of anti-Labour groups. The anti-Labour groups have at times identified themselves as "free trade", as "nationalist", as "anti-communist", as "liberal", besides other labels. Until the 1990s, the label "conservative" has rarely been used, and when used it tended to be used by pro-Labour forces as a term of disparagement against their opponents. This conflict has been conducted on a number of fronts, most prominently industrial and political, but also in social forums such as in commentary in the media.

In the early 20th century, "Conservatism" was used as a disparaging epithet by detractors of right wing politics and politicians within Australia, often by supporters and members of left-wing leaning movements and parties such as the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens. People on the right called themselves "liberals". That only changed in the late 20th century; Hirst says that as a significant political movement, conservatism is "a very recent arrival in Australia". John Howard, who became prime minister in 1996, was the first holder of the office to describe himself as a conservative."

In the 21st century the term covers similar political issues as found in other Western democracies. In the early 20th century the liberals had connections with reform movements. However, as Howard has argued, the Liberal Party became the trustee of both the classical liberal and conservative traditions. That is, it combines liberal (market-based, pro-business, anti-union, anti-Big Government) economic policies with conservative social policies.

Political conservatism is primarily represented by the Liberal Party of Australia, and its coalition partner, the National Party which historically was the party of the small farmers and espoused agrarianism. Moser and Catley state, "In America, 'liberal' means left-of-center, and it is a pejorative term when used by conservatives in adversarial political debate. In Australia, of course, the conservatives are in the Liberal Party." Jupp points out that, "[the] decline in English influences on Australian reformism and radicalism, and appropriation of the symbols of Empire by conservatives continued under the Liberal Party leadership of Sir Robert Menzies, which lasted until 1966." Beecher comments that, "across the economic and cultural landscape, Howard proved that the centre of politics in Australia is inherently conservative."

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