Protestant Labor Party

The Protestant Labor Party was a minor Australian political party that operated mainly in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed by Independent MP Walter Skelton, member for Newcastle in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1922–27. In 1925 he was elected to the Assembly under the Protestant Labor label, but when single-member constituencies were re-introduced in 1927 he was defeated in Wallsend. At the 1927 South Australian election, Thomas Thompson was elected under the Protestant Labor Party banner to the two-member seat of Port Adelaide but failed re-election in 1930. In 1938 the party elected George Morris to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Kelvin Grove, but the party was soon moribund and he sat out his term as an independent. The party was formed in an attempt to counter the perceived Roman Catholic dominance within the ALP. Aside from the sectarian issue, its policies were broadly in agreement with the ALP.