TNL, formerly registered as The New Liberals, is an Australian political party formed in 2019. Victor Kline, a barrister from Sydney, was the founder and party leader. As of June 2022[update], the party president is Katharine Kline and the party leader is Bess Brennan.[1]
TNL The New Liberals | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | TNL |
Leader | Bess Brennan |
General Secretary | Steve Hopley |
President | Katharine Kline[1] |
Founder | Victor Kline |
Founded | 2019 |
Registered | 3 June 2021 |
Dissolved | 28 November 2023 |
Headquarters | 53 Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales |
Ideology | |
Political position | Centre to centre-left |
Colors | Teal |
Slogan | "Economically responsible. Socially progressive." |
Website | |
tnl | |
The party believes in Modern Monetary Theory,[2] and publishes declarations of political donations they receive.[3]
Victor Kline and three friends founded TNL in response to what they saw as “a government that had apparently mastered the art of bare-faced corruption and an opposition that seemed incapable of calling them out”. Initially, the party was named “The New Liberals”. Kline claimed that the word “liberal” has twisted into a misnomer by the Liberal Party of Australia, and that many moderate disaffected Liberal and ex-Liberal voters are attracted to TNL.[citation needed]
The party's registration was approved by the Australian Electoral Commission on 3 June 2021.[4] The Liberal Party of Australia objected to the registration, due to the similarity in party names and the potential to cause confusion among electors.[5][6] Due to changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 regarding party names, this decision overturned by the Australian Electoral Commission and the party's registration was revoked on 7 December 2021.[7] The party was re-registered again as TNL on 17 March 2022.[8]
The party was de-registered on 28 November 2023.[9]
Some of the party's key policies include:[2]
In the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election, Karen Porter ran as an Independent under the party banner.[18] Porter received 1.28% of votes, placing 7th out of 14 candidates.[19]
In the 2022 Federal Election, the party endorsed eight candidates for the House of Representatives, in four states. None were successful. The party also endorsed a total of eight candidates for the Senate, two in New South Wales and six in Queensland.[20]
In June 2021, Kline announced that he, along with party candidate and former prosecutor Vania Holt, would be pursuing a private criminal case against Christian Porter over rape allegations he is facing.[21][22]