Everything about The Free Trade Party totally explained
The
Free Trade Party (officially
Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association), renamed in 1906 as the
Anti-Socialist Party, was an
Australian political party, formally organised from
1889 until
1909. It favoured the abolition of protective tariffs and other restrictions on trade, arguing that this would create greater prosperity for all. It was centred in
New South Wales, where its leaders were
Sir Henry Parkes and
Sir George Reid. It dominated New South Wales colonial politics before
federation.
In the elections for the first
Commonwealth Parliament, the Free Traders formed the second largest group in the
Australian House of Representatives, with 25 seats. Reid became the Parliament's first
Opposition Leader, later becoming
Prime Minister in
1904-
05.
After the question of tariffs had largely been settled, Reid cast around for another cause to justify his party's existence. He settled on opposition to
socialism, criticising both the
Australian Labor Party and the support offered to it by the
Protectionist Party, led by
Alfred Deakin. The Free Trade Party was eventually renamed the Anti-Socialist Party (ASP) before the
1906 federal election. The Labor Party and the FTP/ASP continued to grow in electoral strength at the expense of the Protectionist vote. Some Protectionists continued their exodus to Labor and the ASP.
Eventually Reid convinced Deakin that their two parties' future lay in a merger, and the ASP merged with the Protectionists to become the
Commonwealth Liberal Party in
1909.
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