Alliance for Progress (Australia)

The Alliance for Progress (AFP), also known simply as the Alliance, was an alliance of small Australian political parties.^[7][8] It was composed of nine parties with progressive ideologies as part of an effort to work together on campaigns, share resources, and negotiate preference recommendations.^[9][10]

Alliance for Progress
Abbreviation	AFP AfP Alliance
Founder	James Jansson[1][2]
Founded	2015; 10 years ago (2015)[3][4]
Dissolved	2017; 8 years ago (2017)
Split from	Minor Party Alliance
Membership (2016)	14,000 (combined)[5]
Ideology	Progressivism
Political position	Left-wing[6]
Website
allianceforprogress.org.au
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

History

The 2013 federal election resulted in a number of minor parties being elected to the Senate, after the Minor Party Alliance (MPA) organised and negotiated preference flows through the group voting ticket (GVT) system.^[11] The MPA was organised by Glenn Druery and included both progressive and non-progressive political parties, with those elected in 2013 including the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party, Family First Party, and the Liberal Democratic Party.^[11]

In 2015, a number of parties that had worked with Druery split from the MPA to form the Alliance for Progress, in time for the Canning by-election.^[3][6] Two members of the newly-formed Alliance − the Animal Justice Party and the Pirate Party − as well as the Sustainable Population Party, which was participating in Alliance meetings, contested the by-election.^[3][12]

The Alliance for Progress was critical of changes to the Senate electoral system, which included the removal of GVTs, and instead favoured the introduction of optional preferential voting below-the-line.^[13][14] The removal of GVTs was supported by the Greens, and the Alliance for Progress chose to contest Greens-targeted seats at the 2016 federal election in response.^[1][15]

Members

Official members

Nine parties were official members of the Alliance for Progress.^[16]

Party			Registered	Ideology
	AJP	Animal Justice Party	Yes[17]	Animal protection, animal rights[18]
	ART	Arts Party	Yes[19]	Humanism, environmentalism[20]
	AEP	Australian Equality Party	Yes[21]	LGBTQ rights[22]
	AP	Australian Progressives	Yes[23]	Progressivism[24]
	LESTp	Life Extension, Science and Technology Party	No[25]	Pro-life extension[26]
	PPA	Pirate Party Australia	Yes[27]	Pirate politics[28]
	SCI	Science Party[a]	Yes[30]	Bright green environmentalism[31]
	SPA	Secular Party of Australia	Yes[32]	Secular humanism, secular liberalism[33]
	TPAU	Transhumanist Party Australia	No[34]	Transhumanism[35]

Affiliated members

Eleven parties attended Alliance for Progress meetings, but were not officially members.^[16][36]

Party			Registered	Ideology
	ACP	Australian Cyclists Party	Yes[37]	Cycling issues[38]
	SEX	Australian Sex Party	Yes[39]	Sex positivity, civil libertarianism[40]
	BAP	Building Australia Party	Yes[41]	Building industry rights[42]
	BTFA	Bullet Train for Australia	Yes[43]	High-speed rail advocacy[44]
	HEMP	Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party	Yes[45]	Cannabis legalisation[46]
	FLUX	Flux	Yes[47]	Issue-based direct democracy[48]
	ODD	Online Direct Democracy	Yes[49]	Electronic direct democracy[50]
	REP	Renewable Energy Party	Yes[51]	Green politics[52]
	SAP	Sustainable Australia Party[b]	Yes[54]	Environmentalism, sustainable development[55]
	TLC	The Labour Coalition	No[36]	Labourism[56]
	VEP	Voluntary Euthanasia Party	Yes[57]	Voluntary euthanasia reform advocacy[58]

Notes

1. The Science Party was known as the Future Party until 24 March 2016.^[29]
2. The Sustainable Australia Party was known as the Sustainable Population Party from 28 February 2014 until 18 January 2016.^[53]