Political parties are integral to the Australian political system, yet also largely absent from the Commonwealth Constitution itself. They are not entirely absent: a constitutional amendment in 1977 – secured, as required by law, through a referendum – ensured that a casual vacancy for the Senate would be filled by a member of the same party. But until then, in a system dominated by parties and especially by the competition of two major parties – Labor and Liberal – the document formally establishing Australia’s federal political system was silent about them.
At the time of federation in 1901, political parties had already become established in Australia. Political historian Sean Scalmer has argued that the National Reform and Protection League (NRPL), founded in Victoria in 1877 and led by Graham Berry, was Australia’s first mass political party.
