Labour DLP: Political wars as Labor sees red over rival party’s ‘misleading’ name

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Labour DLP: Political wars as Labor sees red over rival party’s ‘misleading’ name

What’s in a name? If you are the WA Labor Party, it seems the answer is everything.

The Cook Government is seeing red over the fact the Democratic Labour Party has been allowed to register to run in next year’s WA Election on March 8.

The Democratic Labour Party’s registered abbreviation is Labour DLP, sending the WA Labor Party into orbit because it believes voters might get the two parties confused when they cast their vote next year.

Now, the government is set to introduce new laws into the WA Parliament aimed at stopping political minnows from using words like Labor — or ******** — as part of their registered names.

WA Labor stalwart and Attorney-General and Electoral Affairs Minister John Quigley made it clear he was far from amused at the Democratic Labour Party’s intention to contest the WA election under its current name.

“It’s important that all political parties — no matter how big or small — have the opportunity to take part in our democratic process,” Mr Quigley said.

“But attempting to confuse people into voting for a party based on a misleading name is a real threat to democracy.

“Political parties should stand on their own merits, not on the name of another party.

“We’re urgently exploring options to strengthen the rules around voter confusion at the upcoming election.”

So serious has the WA ALP been about this issue, that when the Democratic Labour Party was being considered for registration in WA, it lodged a complaint with the WA Electoral Commission, citing the risk of voter confusion.

The Electoral Commissioner rejected the complaint on the basis that WA’s electoral laws do not specifically prevent political parties using a word in their name that is used by another political party.

Previously, the Liberals for Climate, Liberals for Forests and the ******** Democratic Party have all been registered in WA.

WA’s move to protect the names of established parties follows similar laws passed in the federal parliament in 2021.

A year before it lost government, the Morrison Government passed laws requiring the *********** Electoral Commission to refuse registrations from parties, if their party name replicated a word in the name of an existing registered party.

“Amendments seek to to minimise the risk that a voter may be confused, or potentially misled in the exercise of their choice at an election due to a political parties being registered with very similar names,” then Assistant Minister for Electoral Affairs, Ben Morton said in a release.

“It requires the Electoral Commissioner to refuse an application to register a political party if the applicant party’s name replicates a word in the name of an existing registered party.”

The DLP was formed after a split from the ALP in 1955.

In 2013 it changed the spelling of its name — Labor became Labour.

In March 2022, after the *********** Electoral Act was amended to raise the minimum number of members required for federal party registration from 500 to 1500, the DLP was federally de-registered.

But because here in WA, parties are only required to have 500 members, the DLP has been able to register for next year’s State Election.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Labour Party said there was little to say at this stage, saying as yet it had no candidates.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Labour #DLP #Political #wars #Labor #sees #red #rival #partys #misleading

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up