Australia has new political party

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33753, 28 January 1975, Page 15

Australia has new political party

(Neto Zealand Press Association —Copyright) SYDNEY, January 27. A new Australian political party, which describes itself as “representing the only new political philosophy since Karl Marx,” has been formed in Sydney. It is called the Workers’ Party, but any further resemblance to Marxism is purely coincidental.

The party, which espouses a free-enterprise, laissez-faire philosophy, sees “government” as the villain of our times. Its president, / Dr John

Whitting, a South Australian, explained yesterday: “If the Government laid off the backs of Australians, we could be the richest country in the world. Governments can bankrupt and destroy us. Every Government intervention is an invasion of personal liberty.”

The four other party directors are Dr Duncan Yille, former secretary of the General Practitioners’ Society; Mr R. Howard, a mechanical engineer; Mr R. Barros, a Sydney lawyer; and the party’s economist, Mr Mark Tier. The West Australian mining millionaire, Mr Lang Hancock, was the party’s guest of honour at its inaugural dinner at the Opera House, but he has declined to join it.

The party is supported by IMr John Singleton, whose advertising agency produced a series of virulently antiLabour television commercials for the last Federal elections.

The party plans to run candidates in the next elections, concentrating primarily on the House of Representatives.

Dr Whiting said: “The party, which has a membership of more than 100, hopes to attract support from all political parties. What we stand for is the productive workers, the employers and their employees — anyone who gets off his backside, and works. “The party’s platform is radical in the true sense of the word. Radical means going to the root of things, and we are going to the root of the problem.” And that, as the Workers’ Party sees it, is government.