The Democratic Labor Party is neither 'Left' nor 'Right' as people usually understand those words in Australian politics.
Unlike the ALP it is not dictated to by unions and unlike the Liberal Party it does not seek to serve the interests of big business.
The DLP is free to make policy that is in the best interests of Australia, and throughout its history, this is what the DLP has always strived to do.
It is a basic element of DLP philosophy that the interests of Australians may be best be served by preserving, protecting and building on the family.
It is a fundamental policy of the Democratic Labor Party to support a responsible elected government that will promote social and economic justice, a fair and decent society for families and a sense of national direction that will help to make Australia prosperous, self-reliant and secure.
To give practical effect to this ideal in our two party dominated electoral system the Democratic Labor Party offers electors alternative policies and values to those provided by the ruling parties.
Our Past
The DLP has its roots in Australia’s Labour movement of the late 1800s although the name Democratic Labor Party comes from the mid to late 1950s.
It was formed after many members of the Australian Labor Party (a majority of members in Victoria), were expelled (or left voluntarily, in sympathy with those who were expelled) for their opposition to communist infiltration of the ALP.
The circumstances of the creation of the DLP have contributed to the DLP’s passion for justice and its determination to defend legitimate rights and to oppose totalitarian ideologies.
Since its inception the DLP has been a pacesetter in policy innovation.
Many of the DLP’s ideas such as ending the White Australia policy, equal pay for equal work, the vote for eighteen year olds, balanced environmental protection and the establishment of nationally portable superannuation have become accepted facts of Australian life.
Other DLP objectives, including the restoration of forests and waterways, income splitting for taxation purposes, significant assistance for families buying a first home and respect for human life in all its stages, are yet to be achieved.
A Question of Choice
For many years the electors of Australia have believed there was no viable third choice.
For decades the Coalition and the ALP have tried to convince the Australian electors that a vote for any other party was simply a wasted vote or at best was seen as a ‘protest’ vote.
Australians have seen their electoral strength eroded as the Coalition and ALP abandoned the notion of a valid choice of policies in a continued attempt to maintain their own share of parliamentary power.
The choice of government has become a virtual toss of a coin with no real difference between heads or tails; just two sides of the same coin.
Over the last few decades Political parties that were offering themselves as a ‘balance of power’ party came and went without giving the Australian electorate what it truly desired; a choice for a party prepared to run for; fight for; and form a government in its own right.
Australians want a government that will serve all Australians, not just big business or overseas interests, a government determined to see the wealth and power of this country given back to the people of this country, to the many; and not concentrated in the hands of a few monopolies or centred in a government that has lost touch with the community.
The DLP - A Future Government
The DLP is determined to be that party and to one day represent the people of Australia as the Government of Australia.
Choosing the DLP tells the Coalition and the ALP that they have failed in their duty to govern for the community, that they have failed to understand the needs of the Australian people - especially our families - and that they have neglected important and vital issues of major national concern for rank political expediency.
It tells the Coalition and the ALP that the electorate has found its alternative not just for one election or for one seat but for the future and for its government.
Where electors vote [1] for a Democratic Labor Party candidate their vote has a double effect.
It censures the Coalition and the ALPs for their policy faults, condemns them for their failings and it gives electors a chance to tell them that by electing the DLP they have made their own choice for Australia’s future and that is these parties fail to heed this then they will slip into political obscurity. Leading the Way
A vote for a DLP candidate is the only way to tell the other parties that DLP policies are the policies that matter. Progressive policy ideas that originated with the DLP have already been adopted by State and Federal governments of various persuasions.
The merit of DLP policies rests on the fact that the Democratic Labor Party puts substance and principle first in its policy considerations - not political convenience or short-term populist appeal.
The Coalition and the ALP now have a choice. Adopt the policies the Australian people truly want for the future of this nation or let the DLP form government and introduce those policies themselves.
