The Progress Party, initially known as the Workers Party, was a minor political party in Australia in the mid-to-late 1970s. It was formed on 26 January (

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port J ...

) 1975, as a

free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

and anti-socialist party, by businessmen

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...

and Sinclair Hill, in reaction to the economic policies of

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

prime minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

. It operated and ran candidates in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, but it did not have a central federal structure. Its Western Australian affiliate, which advocated

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

from the rest of Australia, did particularly well in the area surrounding

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

in the state's

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. However, the party failed to win seats at any level of government and had gone out of existence by 1981. The party's first electoral contest was the Greenough state by-election, which took place following the retirement of former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

David Brand. The candidate, Geoffrey McNeil, surprised most observers by attaining 12.96% of valid votes cast (only 0.66% less than the Labor candidate). Buoyed by that success, the Workers' Party ran three

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and five

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

candidates in Western Australia at the 1975 federal election. Subsequently, the New South Wales party nominated candidates at 1976 by-elections in the seats of Pittwater and The Hills. The party was renamed the Progress Party after objections to the name and constitution, and the Westralian Progress Party published its platform in 1977, ahead of the February state election, at which it contested the seats of Greenough (achieving 16.8% of the vote),

(5.1%),

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area inclu ...

(6.4%), Mundaring (4.0%) and Yilgarn-Dundas (3.6%). At the August 1977 Northern Territory assembly elections, the party picked up a territory-wide vote of 9.8%. On 13 October 1977, sitting Liberal MP Peter Richardson announced that he had defected to the Progress Party and would be its lead Senate candidate in Western Australia at the 1977 federal election. Another former Liberal MP,

Wylie Gibbs Wylie Talbot Gibbs (born 26 July 1922) is an Australian former surgeon and politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1963 to 1969, representing the Liberal Party. Early life Gibbs grew up in Ipswich, Queensland, where his fath ...

, also joined the party, but he did not run for office. At the federal election, the Progress Party contested every Western Australian seat in the House of Representatives, but only managed to collect 2.83% of the statewide vote. Richardson was unsuccessful in his bid for the Senate, with the party polling just over 10,000 votes, or 1.7 percent of the state total. The party went on to contest the 1980 Western Australian state election, but achieved a significantly lower level of support. The party is believed to have disbanded after that, but academic Marian Sawer has credited it with attracting publicity for

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, economic rationalist ideals.

References

{{defunct Australian political parties Defunct political parties in Australia Libertarianism in Australia Political parties established in 1975 Political parties disestablished in 1980 Separatism in Australia