Non-Labor parties, 1894-1912 : the development of their parliamentary and electoral organization in New South Wales and Tasmania

Abstract

Very little is known about the development of the non-Labour parties in Australia. Furthermore, the emergence of parties has seldom been the subject of theoretical examination. In this thesis I suggest that the early stages of development of any party can be studied by examining its use of political resources, such as organization and ideology, and its development of a collective identity. Between 1894 and 1912 the non-Labor parties in New South Wales and Tasmania gradually increased their activities and became recognizable as distinct collective bodies. In Parliament they devised methods of maintaining unity which were informal but which were as effective as the procedures of the Labor party. In the electorate the non-Labor parties began to co-ordinate campaigns and to develop a coherent policy and a well articulated organization. They deliberately used procedures which turned existing political influences to their own advantage. In both spheres of activity, the non-Labor parties had to act within constraints created by the existing political attitudes of the non-Labor members. In both states the non-Labor parties developed along similar lines because, despite the economic and geographical differences, the political resources available to them were generally the same.