Australian Democrats look to pull pin

Democrat leader Lyn Allison

Democrats look to pull pin
By Paul Osborne
February 28, 2005
From: AAP
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12397674-421,00.html
THE Australian Democrats executive is seriously considered dissolving the party at the first major post-election meeting, sources said today.
The Democrats received 1000 responses from party members and the public to a Future Directions survey conducted in the wake of the October 2004 federal election.
A party source said the federal executive, which met in Canberra this month, considered the results of the research and discussed a range of options for the future.
"Of the options they chose one which reconfirmed basic party principles," the source said.
"But they seriously canvassed whether the party should dissolve."
The executive also looked at a previously rejected plan to merge with the Australian Greens but stood by its past decision, the source said.
The research, which included comments from 600 members and 400 people who responded to an internet survey, showed a generally positive image of the Democrats.
"People were positive in terms of the importance of the party ... more positive than they thought," the source said.
The Democrats lost three senators at the federal election, suffering a national swing of 4 per cent.
Its joint balance of power position in the Senate will be lost after July 1, when the Government holds a controlling majority.

The poor result at the federal poll also meant that the party received $8491 in public funding - a far cry from the $2.4 million in funding received after the 2001 federal election.
In comparison, Labor received $16.7 million and the Liberal Party just under $18 million.
To further add to their woes, the Democrats will also lose formal party status from July, taking away administrative staff and facilities.

In their latest electoral test, the West Australian state election held at the weekend, the Democrats scored 0.87 per cent in the upper house poll, down from 3.73 per cent in 2001.
The result was well behind the Greens (7.15 per cent) and just behind Family First (2.06 per cent) and One Nation (1.56 per cent).
The party decided not to run a candidate in the federal by-election for Werriwa, called after the resignation of Labor leader Mark Latham.
Democrats leader Lyn Allison is expected to spell out a new vision for the party at its national conference in Canberra in May.
The conference will focus on democracy and human rights, which the party believes are under threat from tougher anti-terror laws and government control of the Senate.