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Socialist Equality Party (Australia)

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Socialist Equality Party
Workers' Party (1933–1972)
Socialist Labour League (1972–2010)
National SecretaryCheryl Crisp
Assistant SecretaryMax Boddy
Founded2010; 16 years ago (2010)[a]
HeadquartersSurry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
NewspaperWorld Socialist Web Site
Youth wingInternational Youth and Students for Social Equality
Membership (2021)700 (electoral)
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
International affiliationICFI
House of Representatives
0 / 151
Senate
0 / 76
Website
Official website

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is an unregistered Trotskyist[2] political party in Australia. The SEP was established in 2010 as the successor party to the Socialist Labour League, which was founded in 1972 as the Australian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

According to its 2019 election statement, the party calls for the nationalisation of all major industries and opposes inequality, the MeToo movement, and trade unions.[2]

The party has been deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) due to a lack of members.

History

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In 1969 a group calling itself Workers Action was founded with the intention of creating an Australian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International. They succeeded in doing so by 1972, at which point they adopted the name Socialist Labor League. Australian author and poltical activist Mick Armstrong noted that "the SLL may possibly have become the largest Trotskyist group, with a couple of hundred members in the mid-1970s".[3] As part of a wider move within the ICFI to homogenize the names of their parties, the SLL held a founding congress to officially become the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) in 2010 although were using the name before said congress.[4]

In 2015 a planned meeting at the University of Sydney to discuss the "glorification and militarism of Anzac Day" was cancelled by the university because of threats made by the far-right Reclaim Australia group that led to a "potential for disruption to access on campus".[5] This followed a previous cancellation at a local library because of the same far-right threats. A third venue was ultimately found and the meeting held.[6]

Electoral results

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In the 2007 Australian federal election Socialist Alliance called on their supporters to not list SEP candidates above the Australian Greens, making an exception to their standard policy of encouraging members to list any socialist candidates even from other groups over the Greens on their ranked preference list.[7]

In the 2016 federal election the Socialist Equality Party fielded two senate candidates in each of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, two candidates in New South Wales for the House of Representatives and one in Victoria for the seat of Wills, which also had a Socialist Alliance candidate.[8]

Since 2022 it has been deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission,[9][10][non-primary source needed] leading to it standing independent candidates.[citation needed]

House of Representatives

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House of Representatives
Year Votes % ± Seat(s) ±
2010 11,160 0.09 Increase 0.09
0 / 150
 Steady
2013 did not contest Steady
2016 1,608 0.01 Increase 0.01
0 / 150
 Steady
2019 2,866 0.02 Increase 0.01
0 / 150
 Steady
2022 did not contest Steady
2025[b] 2,810 0.02 Increase 0.02
0 / 150
 Steady

Senate

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Senate
Year Votes % ± Seat(s) ±
2010 13,945 0.11 Increase 0.11
0 / 76
 Steady
2013 9,774 0.07 Decrease 0.04
0 / 76
 Steady
2016 7,865 0.06 Decrease 0.01
0 / 76
 Steady
2019 14,515 0.10 Increase 0.04
0 / 76
 Steady
2022[c] 10,719 0.07 Decrease 0.03
0 / 76
 Steady
2025[d] 15,990 0.08 Increase 0.01
0 / 76
 Steady

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ As Workers' Party.[1]
  2. ↑ The party was unregistered and thus ran as unlabled tickets on the ballot.
  3. ↑ The party was unregistered and thus ran as unlabled tickets on the ballot.
  4. ↑ The party was unregistered and thus ran as unlabled tickets on the ballot.

References

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  1. ↑ "The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party, Part 4". World Socialist Web Site. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 Henriques-Gomes, Luke (10 May 2019). "Australian election 2019: how to avoid voting for a terrible micro party in the Senate". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "The sixties radicalisation and the emergence of Trotskyism on the Australian left". Marxist Left Review. 25 March 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Historical and International Foundations of the SEP (Australia)". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Bagshaw, Eryk (19 April 2015). "Reclaim Australia threatens public meeting questioning 'militarism' of Anzac Day". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  6. ↑ "Socialist Equality Party meetings to proceed on April 26". World Socialist Web Site. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Nichols, Dick (10 November 2007). "On the socialist campaign trail". Greenleft. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Notice of deregistration Socialist Equality Party" (PDF). aec.gov.au. Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). 23 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "NOTICE OF DECISION ON PARTY REGISTRATION DEREGISTERING A POLITICAL PARTY AND REMOVAL FROM THE REGISTER OF POLITICAL PARTIES SOCIALIST EQUALITY PARTY" (PDF). aec.gov.au. Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
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