Editing Unity Party (Australia)

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Unity Party
| logo             = Unity_Party_(Australia)_logo.jpg
| logo_size        = 150px
| colorcode        = #CB5719
| president        = Eddie Hwang
| foundation       = 1997
| registered       = 1998
| youth_wing       = Young Unity
| seats1           = {{composition bar|1|42|hex=#CB5719}}{{small|(1999–2007)}}
| seats1_title     = [[New South Wales Legislative Council|NSW Legislative Council]]
| position         = [[Centrism|Centre]]
| ideology         = [[Multiculturalism]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unity.org.au/ |title=Home |website=www.unity.org.au |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011202170840/http://www.unity.org.au/ |archive-date=2 December 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| headquarters     = PO Box 515 Applecross WA 6953
| website          = [https://web.archive.org/web/20011202170840/http://www.unity.org.au/ Archive (2001)]<br />[http://unityparty.org Victoria]<br />[http://www.unitywa.org Western Australia]<br />[http://unitypartywa.blogspot.com.au Blog 1]<br />[https://uitypartywa.wordpress.com Blog 2]
| country          = Australia
}}

The '''Unity Party''' was a small [[multiculturalism|multiculturist]] party in Australia, formed in 1997 and primarily active in the state of [[New South Wales]]. It was formed with the aim of opposing the rise of the controversial [[anti-immigration]] politician [[Pauline Hanson]]. Although initially billed as a party to unite Australians of all ethnicities against racism, Unity failed to draw significant support outside Australia's East Asian ethnic communities. After the demise of Pauline Hanson as a political force (prior to her return to politics in the late 2010s), Unity shifted focus onto ethnic community affairs at a local government level.

==History==

===Formation===
Unity attracted much attention when it was founded in 1997, with [[Peter Wong (Australian politician)|Peter Wong]], [[Mary Kalantzis]], [[Bill Cope (academic)|Bill Cope]] and [[Jason Yat-Sen Li]] among those involved in its creation.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:10833/SOURCE01?view=true|first=Stephen|last=Smith|type=Ph.D. thesis|title=A dynamic electorate? Analysing the geography of minor parties at Australian state and federal elections, 1997-2006|publisher=University of New South Wales|year=2011|page=93}}</ref>

The party ran candidates in almost every [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] seat at the [[1998 Australian federal election|1998 election]]. While they had hopes of winning a Senate seat in [[New South Wales]] with Jason Li, he fell well short. However, the party outpolled the [[Australian Democrats]] and [[Australian Greens]] in some House of Representatives seats. In the NSW Federal seat of Fowler, investment banker Andrew Su outpolled both the Democrats and One Nation. Subsequently, in the 1999 NSW State Election, Su went on to poll more than the Liberals, Greens and Democrats in the safe Labor seat of [[Electoral district of Cabramatta|Cabramatta]].

The Unity Party was formally registered by the [[Australian Electoral Commission]] on 25 August 1998 under the name "Unity – Say No to Hanson".<ref name=aec>{{cite news|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/Party_Registration/Deregistered_parties/usnh.htm|title=Unity – Say No to Hanson|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|accessdate=5 January 2022}}</ref>

===Decline===
As the Hanson movement began to disintegrate, it also negated Unity's main platform, and the party soon fell into internal tensions. The party's founder, Dr. [[Peter Wong (Australian politician)|Peter Wong]], won a seat in the [[New South Wales Legislative Council]] with just 1% of the vote. This came against the backdrop of a series of resignations, including that of Li. Wong soon stepped down as leader in favour of a [[white people|white]] Australian in an attempt to broaden the party's base.

Unity's activities largely died down throughout 2000 and Wong acted as a virtual independent in the Legislative Council. However, with the re-emergence of Hanson's [[One Nation (Australia)|One Nation]] party at the [[2001 Western Australian state election]], the party again came together and put together a large slate of candidates for the federal election that year. Despite having several prominent candidates (such as former [[Melbourne City Council]] member [[Wellington Lee]] in Victoria), they fell even further short of winning a seat in either house of federal parliament.

After their failure to break into federal parliament in 2001, Unity largely shifted its attentions to local government, running a number of candidates for local councils in largely non-white areas, primarily in suburban Sydney. It was deregistered by the AEC on 13 November 2003 for failing to have at least 500 members as required by electoral law.<ref name=aec/> The party did not run any candidates in the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 federal election]].

Wong continued to represent Unity in the NSW Parliament, until the expiry of his term in March 2007. At the March [[2007 New South Wales state election|2007 NSW state election]], lead Unity Upper House candidate, Le Lam, won 1.2% of the vote, which was insufficient to gain election. Consequently, Unity no longer holds seats in any Australian parliament.

The party did not contest the [[2011 New South Wales state election|2011 NSW state election]], although [[Pauline Hanson]] did.

The party contested one [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]] seat ([[Electoral district of Kogarah|Kogarah]]) in the [[2015 New South Wales state election|2015 state election]], receiving 7.9% of the vote.

At the [[2024 New South Wales local elections]], a new party, [[Australia Multinational Unity Inc]] (also known simply as "Unity"), contested [[Municipality of Burwood|Burwood]], [[City of Canterbury Bankstown|Canterbury Bankstown]] and [[City of Ryde|Ryde]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Australia Multinational Unity Inc |url=https://www.ausunity.org/ |website=AusUnity.org |publisher=Australia Multinational Unity Inc |access-date=23 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823072049/https://www.ausunity.org/ |archive-date=23 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2024 Election |url=https://lukelaw.info/2024-election/ |website=LukeLaw.info |publisher=LU Guitang |access-date=23 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823071856/https://lukelaw.info/2024-election/ |archive-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>

===Youth faction===
Unity also had a youth division, called Young Unity.

==Elected representatives==
===New South Wales===
====[[New South Wales Legislative Council|Legislative Council]]====
*[[Peter Wong (Australian politician)|Peter Wong]] (1999–2007)

====[[City of Auburn|Auburn City Council]]====
*Jack Au (until at least 2009)
*Le Lam (1999–2011)

====[[Municipality of Burwood|Burwood Council]]====
*[[Ernest Wong]] (2000–2005)

====[[City of Canterbury (New South Wales)|Canterbury Council]]====
*Joshua Nam

====[[Fairfield City Council]]====
*Thang Ngo (1999–2008)

====[[City of Hurstville|Hurstville City Council]]====
*Nancy Liu (2008–2016)

====[[City of Kogarah|Kogarah City Council]]====
*Annie Tang (1999–2016)

====[[Municipality of Strathfield|Strathfield Council]]====
*Alfred Tsang (2000–2005)

====[[City of Willoughby|Willoughby City Council]]====
*Sylvia Chao (elected 2004)

===Victoria===
====[[City of Melbourne|Melbourne City Council]]====
*[[Wellington Lee]] (1998–2001)

==Past presidents==
* [[Peter Wong (Australian politician)|Peter Wong]] (1997–1999, 2007–2009)
* [[Ernest Wong]]

=== Past vice-presidents ===
* Adriane Hassapis (1999)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hon. Dr P. WONG [2.44 p.m.] (Inaugural speech) |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/member/files/1991/Wong.pdfhttps://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/member/files/1991/Wong.pdf |publisher=Parliament of New South Wales}}</ref>

==Prominent past members==
* [[Randa Abdel-Fattah]], writer
* [[Silma Ihram]], Muslim educationist
* [[Sarah Kemp (actress)|Sarah Kemp]], actress
* Andrew Su, ex investment banker and Chief Executive Officer, Compass Global Markets
* [[Jason Yat-Sen Li]], member of the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly|NSW Legislative Assembly]] elected for the [[Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)|Labor Party]] at the [[2022 Strathfield state by-election]]

==See also==
*[[Multicultural Progress Party]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070207121408/http://unityparty.org.au/ Unity Party Australia official website]
* [http://www.unitywa.org/ Unity Party WA] 
* [http://www.youngunity.org/ Young Unity]

{{Defunct Australian political parties}}
{{New South Wales political parties}}

[[Category:Anti-racism in Australia]]
[[Category:Multiculturalism in Australia]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1997]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Australia]]