CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY OF AUSTRALIA
The name of the party shall be the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) of Australia or any abbreviated form thereof.
It is provided that the party shall be a Federation of constituent State or Territory branches consisting of not more than one branch from each State or Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Each State (hereinafter including Territory) branch shall be named that State Branch of the Democratic Labor Party.
The members shall be those eligible to vote in Commonwealth elections who are deemed by the Democratic Labor Party to be of like spirit and to identify with the principles, objectives and platform of the DLP. They shall attend DLP meetings, contribute to the funds, canvass for new members, assist with elections, vote for DLP candidates in elections or otherwise declare their association, loyalty and support.
Perspective
The Democratic Labor Party shall promote the political, social and economic order of the decentralist nation-community as a preferred alternative to the authoritarian rigidities of socialist-centralist control and the libertarian extremes of the capitalist global market.
The Democratic Labor Party shall embrace principles which are distributist, or decentralist, in basic tenet and which call for practical social justice, the widest possible distribution of political, social and economic power and a decentralised society.
Democratic Labor Party policy shall be formulated to favour the smaller unit of responsibility and decision-making, rather than the larger, in government, business and community affairs.
In social policy the Democratic Labor Party shall recognise that rights and responsibilities that rest with individuals, families and the local community ought not to be relegated to larger social agencies or the state.
In economic policy the Democratic Labor Party shall acknowledge that the smaller unit in industry, commerce and the farming sector deserves protection from unfair competition or takeover by larger, more capitalised concerns.
The Democratic Labor Party shall insist that functions of federal government should be exercised without encroachment on the rightful responsibilities of state and local administrations, or the communities they serve.
Principles
The Democratic Labor Party shall uphold principles of democracy intended to maintain
responsible government, representative parliaments, the fundamental liberties of conscience, equality, justice and the rule of law;
a decent and secure livelihood for all, through wage justice, fair rewards for enterprise, adequate social security and equity in the determination of prices, interest rates and the level of taxation;
limits upon centralism in government and upon the concentrations of power in corporate business, financial institutions, trade unions and the communications media;
protection of the constitutional sovereignty of the people of the Commonwealth, and of each State of the Commonwealth against outside political interference, economic coercion or external aggression;
resistance to the spread of totalitarian, supranationalist and other anti-democratic ideologies; and cautious realism in dealings with the regimes, movements and fronts that derive from them.
The Democratic Labor Party shall uphold principles of liberty intended to affirm
orthodox values and traditions and the ethic of civic responsibility as the foundation for genuine human freedoms and the common good;
the sacredness of human life, from its inception until natural death, as the fundamental basis for all human rights;
the historical indispensability of the family as the primary guardian of personal freedoms vis-a-vis the state;
the authority of just law as paramount in the protection of community interests against exploitation, violence or threat from self-serving, coercive-ideological and lawless agents or groups;
distributive democracy as the means to advance the welfare, status and development of the people and support basic freedoms and rights.
The Democratic Labor Party shall uphold principles of peace intended to promote -
personal security, harmony and trust within families, mutual tolerance and respect among all peoples and communities and the right to lawful national self-determination;
development of co-operative links between nations in matters of mutual interest, including foreign aid, migration and refugees, scientific and cultural exchanges, trade and essential defence alliances;
preparedness for legitimate self-defence against external aggression or threat to the nation and its regional or global interests, through the maintenance of a flexible and effective deterrent capability;
multilateral armaments reduction which is balanced, verifiable and progressive;
vigilance against unilateralism, pacifism and appeasement and the strategic instabilities they abet.
Objectives
To establish, under Almighty God, the political, legal, social and economic foundations for a just, free and democratic society and for a self-reliant and secure Australia.
To decentralise, to the maximum extent practicable, the ownership, management and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange.
To protect the fundamental and inalienable rights of each person embodied in the common law, statute and tradition - to life, to the essential liberties of conscience, to equality and natural justice, to ownership of property and to a livelihood that enhances the dignity, status and security of the person.
To advance the rights, welfare and status of the natural family, founded in traditional marriage, as the primary provider in the nurturing, rearing and educating of the young and in the care of the infirm and the aged.
To assert the right of governments to supervise the nation's economy, maintain the rule of law and protect the welfare of the less privileged.
To make a just contribution to the liberties and welfare of the peoples of other nations and to work for international understanding, regional stability and peace.
To promote the principles, objectives and policies of the Democratic Labor Party, through education, organisation and the selection suitable men and women as candidates in federal, state and municipal elections.
