Science Party (Australia)

The Science Party, formerly known as Future Party, is an Australian political party that was established on 2 July 2013.[3][4][5][6][7] The founding leader, James Jansson, was studying for his Doctorate at the Kirby Institute during the party's formation, with a focus on advancing Australian society through technical and long-term solutions.[8] On 22 March 2016, the name was changed to The Science Party after registering with the Australian Electoral Commission.[9] The Science Party has run candidates for the 2013, 2016 and 2019 Federal elections, as well as several By-elections in between.[10]

For other uses, see Future Party (disambiguation).

Science Party
LeaderDr. Andrea Leong
Deputy leaderAaron Hammond
Founded2 July 2013 (2013-07-02)
HeadquartersNew South Wales
IdeologyBright green environmentalism
Secularism
Techno-progressivism
Technocentrism
Australian republicanism[1]
National affiliationFusion Party[2]
Colours  Sky blue
Website
scienceparty.org.au

The party was de-registered on 12 January 2022 by the Australian Electoral Commission for failing to meet the increased registration requirement of 1,500 members.[11] It later merged with other parties to become the Fusion Party.[12]

Political philosophy

The Science Party believes that technological development is a positive force in human affairs and values the cultural, economic and technological benefits of modernism.[1] It believes in freedom of expression and has a positive view of the power of free markets and the benefits of high density cities. The party seeks to promote high quality science research and education.[13]

Policies

Science Party policies include the following:[14]

Elections

2013 federal election

The Science Party first ran in the 2013 federal election as The Future Party. The party ran two candidates for the senate in NSW, and one in the New South Wales seat of Kingsford Smith[17] and another in the Queensland seat of Moreton[18][19] The party has been involved in Glenn Druery's Minor Party Alliance, though it refused to engage in any large scale preference deal.

2016 federal election

In the 2016 federal election, the Science Party fielded two candidates each for the senate in NSW and Tasmania and one in Victoria. To avoid being placed in the ungrouped column, the Victorian and NSW candidates shared the column with the candidate from the Australian Cyclists Party. Together, they received 0.22% of the vote in Australia; 0.41% in NSW, 0.33% in Victoria, and without a shared column in Tasmania, received 0.39% of the vote.

For the House of Representatives, ten candidates ran in NSW:[20] Berowra (receiving 2.1% of votes), Cunningham (2.6%), Grayndler (1.3%), Greenway (1%), Kingsford Smith (2.2%), North Sydney(1.8%), Sydney (1.6%), Warringah (0.9%), Watson (1.9%) and Wentworth (1.2%).

2019 federal election

In 2019, four candidates ran for senate in NSW, receiving 0.4% of the total vote. In the lower house, five candidates from NSW were put forward and the results were: Berowra (1.56% of votes), Grayndler: (2.73%), Kingsford Smith (1.69%), Sydney (3.42%), Watson (2.23%), as well as one from VIC (Mallee, 0.53%) and one from WA (Perth, 1.52%).

By-elections

2015 By-election: James Jansson ran under the title of The Future Party for North Sydney in NSW.

2017 and 2018 By-elections: The Science Party fielded Meow-Ludo Meow-Meow as a candidate in the 2017 New England by-election in response to the 2017–2018 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis. He had previously been the Science Party candidate in the Division of Grayndler at the 2016 federal election. After subsequent resignations, the party fielded candidates in by-elections for the seats of Bennelong, Perth, Longman and Wentworth.

2020 By-election: James Jansson ran in Eden-Monaro (NSW) for the 2020 By-election, receiving 1.13% of the vote.

Electoral results
Senate (NSW)
Election year Leader # of total

votes

 % of total

votes

 Name of party
(at time of poll)
2013 James Jansson 4,243 0.10 Future Party
2016 18,367 Increase 0.41 Science Party (on a joint ticket with the Australian Cyclists Party)
2019 Andrea Leong 18,972 Decrease 0.40 Science Party

See also

References
  1. "Science Party | Vision & Principles". Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  2. "Our Party". Fusion Party Australia.
  3. "Future Party". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016.
  4. Neil Mitchell. "The Future Party: A party of six nerds". Archived from the original on 9 March 2014.
  5. Peter Munro (20 July 2013). "Smokers, pirates, cola lovers ... new parties add colour to electoral canvas". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. Liz Tay (31 May 2013). "10 Unusual Political Parties That Could Be On Aussie Ballot Papers This September". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  7. "sky news". Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. "Election 2013: The Future Party". ABC Radio National. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. "Notice under s.134(6A) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 - Future Party". Australian Electoral Commission. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  10. "Our People". Science Party. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. "Notice of deregistration – Science Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission.
  12. "Our Party". fusionparty.org.au. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  13. Sarah Michael (6 August 2013). "Obscure parties and why they want your vote". NewsComAu.
  14. "Federal Policy". Future Party.
  15. Waleed Aly (28 August 2013). "Election 2013: The Future Party". Radio National.
  16. Brittany Murphy (11 August 2013). "Senate party's bid for Southern Tablelands' super city". Goulburn Post.
  17. "Kingsford Smith - Australia Votes - Federal Election 2013 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News.
  18. "Moreton". ABC News.
  19. "Members' FAQ". Future Party.
  20. "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
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