Australian Progressive Alliance

Not to be confused with Australian Progressives.

The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor liberal party in Australia, formed by Meg Lees, an independent senator and former leader of the Australian Democrats, in April 2003. The party ceased to operate and was deregistered in June 2005 following Senator Lees's defeat at the 2004 election and the expiry of her term.

History

Meg Lees resigned from membership of the Democrats in July 2002 after being deposed as the party's leader in April 2001. She sat as an independent in the Senate before forming the APA in 2003. Other APA members included the former Democrat Queensland Senator John Woodley and Elisabeth Kirkby, a former Democrat member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Policy

Lees sought to position the APA as a party of the moderate centre, arguing that the Democrats, under the leadership of Cheryl Kernot, Natasha Stott-Despoja and Andrew Bartlett, had moved too far to the left. In a 2003 opinion article, she claimed the party would appeal to "voters who cannot be dragged to the extremes by the Greens in any enduring way."^[1]

The party's "guiding principles" were described as:

To act with integrity, tolerance and compassion.
To respect the freedom of the individual particularly the freedoms of association, expression and religion.
To uphold a system of constitutional checks and balances in government, particularly the separation of powers and the rule of law.
To commit to a socially just, environmentally responsible and economically sustainable Australia, working for a balance between, and the integration of, social needs, the protection and care of Australia’s unique biodiversity and the equitable collection and spending of revenue.
To work for positive solutions for all Australians and not be controlled by any one particular group in the community.

2004 Senate election

At the 2004 federal election, the only election contested by the party, the APA stood candidates in NSW (lead candidate, Reese Malcolm), Victoria (Chris Grigsby), Queensland (Tony Newman), Western Australia (Geoff Gibson) and the ACT (Jeannette Jolley) in addition to Meg Lees (South Australia).

Results

Senate Electorate	Votes (%)
SA	11,061 (1.14%)
ACT	1,147 (0.54%)
Victoria	2,453 (0.08%)
WA	932 (0.08%)
NSW	2,342 (0.06%)
Qld	928 (0.04%)
National Total	18,863 (0.14%)

Footnotes

↑ Lees M The Progressive Alliance will fill the political vacuum in Australia's centre Retrieved on 12 September 2006.

External links

Official website (from archive.org)
The Progressive Alliance will fill the political vacuum in Australia's centre - opinion piece by Meg Lees

Defunct political parties in Australia

Major parties	Commonwealth Liberal Country and Progressive National Democratic (1940s) Free Trade Liberal (WA, 1910s) Liberal and Country League Liberal and Country Party Liberal and Democratic Union Liberal Federation Liberal Reform (NSW) Liberal Union National Labor Nationalist Progressive (NSW, 1900s) Protectionist United Australia

Other parties represented in federal or state parliaments	A Better Future For Our Children Abolish Self Government Coalition Australia Party Australian Family Movement Australian Democrats Australian Liberal Australian Party Australian Progressive Alliance Centre (Tas) City Country Alliance Communist Country Progressive Democratic (1920s) Democratic Labor Emergency Committee Executive Country (WA) Hare-Clark Independent Illawarra Workers Independent Labor Group Independents Group Industrial Socialist Labor Labor (Anti-Communist) Labor (Non-Communist) Labor (NSW) Lang Labor Liberal (1922) Liberal Country Liberal Movement Liberals for Forests Majority Labor National Alliance National Liberal New Conservative Group New Country New Liberal Movement No Self-Government North Queensland Labor Northern Territory Nationals Nuclear Disarmament Progress Progressive (NSW, 1920s) Protestant Labor Queensland Labor Queensland People's Party Reform the Legal System Residents Rally Revenue Tariff SA First Single Tax Unite Australia United Country Unity Victorian Farmers' Union Victorian Liberal Western Australian

Parties without representation in any parliaments	4Change (Climate Change Coalition) Abolish Child Support Advance Australia Aged and Disability Pensioners All for Australia League Australia's First Nations Political Party Australian Commonwealth Australian Independents Australian National Socialist Australians Against Further Immigration Bill of Rights Centre (NSW) Combined New Australia Commonwealth Commonwealth Centre Communist Alliance Confederate Action Conservative Conservative Nationalist Curtin Labor Alliance Deadly Serious Defence and Ex-Services Defence of Government Schools Defence Movement Democratic Association of Victoria Democratic Socialist Douglas Social Credit Earthsave Engineered Australia Plan Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy Ex-Service, Service and Veterans Family Law Reform Fishing Party Great Australians Grey Power Hear Our Voice Henry George Justice Hope Imperial British Conservative Independent EFF Indigenous Peoples Liberal Democratic (1940s) Liberal Reform Libertarian Lower Excise Fuel and Beer Marijuana Middle Class National Front National Humanitarian National Socialist Nationalist (1958) Natural Law No Aircraft Noise No GST One Australia Movement One Australia Party One Parliament for Australia Party! Party! Party! Pauline's United Australia Pensioner and Citizen Initiated Referendum People Power People's Party Progressive Conservative Progressive Labour Protestant People's Party Reclaim Australia: Reduce Immigration Referendum First Reform Republican Restore the Workers' Rights Save the ADI Site Services Services and Citizens Social Democratic State Labor Sun Ripened Warm Tomato Tasmania First Tasmania Senate Team Taxi Operators Political Service United Australia (SA) United Christian United Tasmania Group Victorian Socialist Party What Women Want Women's Party (1995) Young Australia National

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