Centre Party (New South Wales)
Political party in Australia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Centre Party, or the Centre Reform Group,[5] and occasionally referred to as the Centre Movement, was a short-lived extreme-right political party that operated in the Australian state of New South Wales. Founded in December 1933, the party's leader and most prominent figure was Eric Campbell, the leader of the paramilitary New Guard movement. That organisation had been established to oppose what its members perceived as the socialist tendencies of Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales, but declined following Lang's dismissal in early 1932. The party, unlike most fascist-oriented parties in Europe, acted as a wing of its more prominent paramilitary arm.
Centre Party Centre Reform Group | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | CP |
Leader | Eric Campbell |
Founder | Eric Campbell |
Founded | 4 December 1933 |
Dissolved | c. 1935 |
Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales |
Newspaper | • New Guard • Liberty |
Armed wing | New Guard |
Membership (1933) | c. 15,000 |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-right[4] |
Religion | Protestantism |
Affiliate party | British Union of Fascists |
Colours | Black |
House of Representatives | 0 / 74 |
Senate | 0 / 36 |
The Centre Party contested five seats at the 1935 state election, and its candidates placed second to the United Australia Party (UAP) in two electorates, with almost 20% of the vote. However, it polled poorly in the other seats it contested, and disbanded shortly after the election. The Centre Party is generally seen as the political extension of the remnant of the New Guard, which had decreased in popularity and influence, and, under Campbell's leadership, had become increasingly inclined towards fascism.