Free Trade Party

History

The party was centred on New South Wales, where its leaders were Sir Henry Parkes and Sir George Reid. It dominated New South Wales colonial politics before federation. It first contested the 1887 New South Wales election.

At the 1901 elections for the first Commonwealth Parliament, the Free Traders, who campaigned in some states as the Revenue Tariff Party, formed the second largest group in the Australian House of Representatives, with 25 seats. Reid became the Parliament's first Opposition Leader with William McMillan as his deputy, later becoming Prime Minister in 1904–05. Dugald Thomson became deputy leader of the party in early 1904 following McMillan's retirement. Thomson would himself hand over the Deputy position to Joseph Cook on 28 July 1905 following the fall of the Reid government.

A separate Tasmanian Revenue Tariff Party contested the 1903 federal election in Tasmania and won two seats. However, the Tasmanian party sat and merged with the Free Trade Party in federal Parliament.

After the question of tariffs had largely been settled, Reid cast around for another cause to justify his party's existence. He settled on opposition to socialism, criticising both the Australian Labour Party and the support offered by it to the Protectionist Party, led by Alfred Deakin. Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs non-Labour lines – prior to the 1906 election, he renamed the Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the Westminster tradition and regarded a two-party system as very much the norm.

The Labor Party and the FTP/ASP continued to grow in electoral strength at the expense of the Protectionist vote. Some Protectionists continued their exodus to Labor and the ASP.

When Deakin proposed the Commonwealth Liberal Party, a "Fusion" of the two non-Labour parties, Reid announced his intention to resign as party leader on 16 November 1908. Joseph Cook was elected leader unopposed on 26 November, and he led the party until the merger with the Protectionists. No deputy leader was elected under Cook.

Leaders

New South Wales Parliament

Australian Parliament

Electoral results

Parliament of New South Wales

Parliament of Australia

References

Bibliography

References

1. Kemp, David. (2019). "A Free Country: Australians' Search for Utopia 1861–1901". [[Melbourne University Publishing]].
2. Brett, Judith. (2012). "Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard". [[Cambridge University Press]].
3. (January 1998). "The Decline of Free Trade In Australian Politics, 1901–1909". [[Macquarie University]].
4. "Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association". [[Oxford University Press]].
5. (2024). "White Australia and the Labour Movement". The Queensland Journal of Labour History.
6. (11 February 1906). "FREE TRADE PARTY". Sydney Morning Herald.
7. (26 May 1906). "PROTECTION AND THE LABOR PARTY". Herald.
8. [https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2015/04/images/stories/policy-magazine/2009-autumn/25-1-09-charles-richardson.pdf Fusion: The Party System We Had To Have? - by Charles Richardson CIS 25 January 2009]
9. (27 November 1908). "The Direct Opposition: Mr. J. Cook Chosen Leader". Argus.
10. (December 1908). "Federal Opposition: No Deputy-Leader To Be Appointed". Australian Star.