The 2001 Australian Democrats leadership spill was held in April 2001 to elect the leader of the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

. Incumbent leader

Meg Lees Meg Heather Lees (née Francis, born 19 October 1948) is an Australian former politician who was a member of the Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, a ...

was defeated by deputy leader

Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian diplomat, gender equality advocate, former Australian of the Year nominee, and former politician. Starting her career in student politics, she became an advisor to the ...

after a vote of the party's rank-and-file membership, becoming the youngest-ever person to lead a federal parliamentary political party in Australia.

Aden Ridgeway Aden Derek Ridgeway (born 18 September 1962) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal m ...

replaced Stott Despoja as deputy leader.

Background

In 1999, after negotiations with

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

prime minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

, the Democrats party room agreed to support the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Two dissident senators on the party's left,

and

Andrew Bartlett Andrew John Julian Bartlett (born 4 August 1964) is an Australian politician, social worker, academic, and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats ...

, voted against the GST legislation. The decision to pass the GST was opposed by the majority of Democrats rank-and-file members, and led to internal conflict and tensions surrounding the leadership of

. Under the party's constitution, a petition signed by 100 members can trigger a leadership spill. Stott Despoja announced on 27 February 2001 that she would challenge Lees, and after voting took place via post, she emerged victorious on 6 April 2001. Stott Despoja won 69% of the vote, as well as the support of membership in every state.

Endorsements

Natasha Stott Despoja

Aftermath

Throughout 2002, Stott Despoja struggled to keep the Democrats together as senators publicly strayed from party positions and privately expressed a lack of confidence in her leadership. In March 2002, Ridgeway publicly stated that the party was wrong to replace Lees. After the party opened an investigation into Lees for allegedly damaging party unity, which Lees and her allies saw as part of a campaign by Stott Despoja to silence her, Lees left the Democrats in July 2002 and formed the

Australian Progressive Alliance The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor "small-l-liberal" political 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 wa ...

. Her departure was followed by a stand-off with Andrew Murray, who threatened to follow her. After deciding to stay, Murray proposed a ten-point package to reform party structures and address the issues raised by Lees, designed to shift power from the leader. At a party room meeting on 21 August 2002, all ten measures were passed four votes to three: Murray, Ridgeway,

Lyn Allison Lynette Fay Allison (born 21 October 1946) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1996 to 2008, representing the state of Victoria. she is the national president of the Australian Democrats. Early life an ...

and John Cherry in favour, with Stott Despoja and her allies

and

Brian Greig Brian Andrew Greig OAM (born 22 February 1966) is a former Australian politician. Grieg was an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, representing the state of Western Australia. Early life Greig was born in F ...

against. Understanding her position to be untenable after this defeat, Stott Despoja announced her resignation as Democrats leader to the Senate after 16-and-a-half months in the role. Support for the Democrats fell significantly at the 2004 federal election in which it achieved only 2.1% of the national Senate vote. Its remaining Senate seats were lost at the 2007 federal election.

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Democrats Democrats Australian Democrats leadership spills