Religious Right Groups
Democratic Labor Party
| Leadership: | John Mulholland, Secretary; Peter Kavanagh, Victorian State Upper House Member for Western Victoria |
| Date formed: | The DLP was originally founded in Victoria in 1955 as a conservative Catholic breakaway from the Australian Labor Party. A national party with close ties to the National Civic Council (NCC), it enjoyed considerable success in the Federal Upper House but lost all five of its Senators in the 1974 election. Some members never accepted the official 1978 decision to wind up the party, and re-formed it in Victoria in 1984. (Gerard Henderson ‘Sneers bring fear of the old divide’, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec. 2006) |
| Area of operation: | The DLP is still notionally a federal party but is currently centred in Victoria. It has plans to ‘rebuild structures’ in other states. (www.dlp.org.au - ‘Organisation’) |
| Estimated membership: | 500-1,500, most of whom live in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, according to John Mulholland. We estimate a formal membership of a few hundred with a handful of activists performing most of the work. (Peter Ker, ‘DLP’s rising son just a falling star’, Melbourne Age, 14 Dec. 2006) |
| Finances: | A shoestring operation. Mulholland says that the party’s campaign budget for the Nov. 2006 Victorian state election was $2,500- 5000. As of Dec. 2006, the DLP had no office and no official headquarters. (ibid.) |
| Main objectives: | Although it has official policies on a wide range of issues, the DLP emphasises its strong commitment to social conservatism. It supports the enforcement of criminal law with respect to ‘procured abortions’ and voluntary euthanasia ‘through the prosecution of medical professionals’; abolition of the ‘dishonestly named’ Family Court of Australia; restriction of in vitro fertilisation procedures to married heterosexuals; and opposition to ‘radical feminist’ policies. [www.dlp.org.au - 'Objectives' and 'Policies'] |
| Main activities: | Leaders regularly run for parliamentary office, but without success until the Nov. 2006 Victorian state election. The introduction of proportional representation in Upper House contests created a situation in which DLP candidate Peter Kavanagh benefited from preference deals with other parties. Despite receiving only 2.6% of the primary vote, Kavanagh gained enough preferences to take the final Western Victorian seat. The party holds occasional meetings and both leaders write ‘letters to the editor’. |
| Links to Other Groups: | There seem to be membership ties between this version of the DLP and other conservative Catholic groups such as the National Civic Council, although it seems unlikely that Kavanagh will subject himself to NCC direction as there seems to be some tension here (see, e.g., Kavanagh’s letter in News Weekly, 27 May 2006). Recent articles and letters to newspapers by DLP supporters suggest links with the Right to Life Association, Australian Family Association, pregnancy counselling centres etc. (e.g. Age, 14 Dec. 2006) During its years in the political wilderness, the DLP remained close to some Coalition identities including the (Peter and Julian) McGauran family who helped fund a High Court action brought by the DLP over a refusal to supply membership details to the Australian Electoral Commission. Julian McGauran explained that ‘the decision to help was made in appreciation of the DLP’s past help with preferences’. (Russell Skelton ‘The McGauran name whistles in the wind’, Age, 5 Oct. 2004) |
| Publications: | See website details below. |
| Sample quotes: | I don’t think there’s any secret about the fact that we campaigned strongly on the decriminalisation of abortion. We are totally opposed to that … [T]hat’s not a left-right issue, that’s an issue of human rights. (John Mulholland, Age, 14 Dec. 2006) |
| Greg Barber [of the Greens] decries the election of ‘a right-wing [DLP] nutter’. However, it may well be fortuitous that such an election has occurred to protect Victorians from the Greens’ crazy policy agenda and further social engineering from the ALP. (Christopher Dean, DLP supporter, Age, 14 Dec. 2006) | |
| All free-to-air television programming until 10.30pm to come within classifications suited for family viewing. (www.dlp.org.au - ‘Policies - Media and the arts’) | |
| Assessment: | Proportional representation voting systems regularly deliver unexpected results via complicated preference deals. Kavanagh does not hold the direct balance of power in the Victorian Upper House, but can be expected to take advantage of the platform that his win has given him. Of course, it is a moot point whether regular reporting of extreme statements on matters like abortion is advantageous to the DLP. It is worth noting that in the first major interview after his election, Kavanagh undertook to ‘push for gay couples to have their relationships recognised’, although the party is clearly opposed to same-sex marriage. (Mathew Murphy and Farrah Tomazin, ‘DLP’s new MP backs gay rights’, Age, 21 Dec. 2006) In the longer run, however, the prospects for this party remain bleak. |
| Contact Details: | www.dlp.org.au |
