Socialist Equality Party (Australia)

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a minor Australian political party, affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International.

Policy and views

Unlike Australia's other socialist party, the Socialist Alliance (which usually allocates election preferences to the Greens, ahead of the two major political parties), the SEP refuses to align itself with any other party. At the 2007 Australian federal election to the House of Representatives, the SEP refused to allocate preferences to any other party. However, in order to secure an "above the line" status for its Senate candidates, it split preferences between Labor, the Liberals, and the Greens, to demonstrate their indifference towards all of the larger parties. cite web | title = The SEP and preferences in the 2007 election | publisher = World Socialist Web Site | date= 2007-11-07 | url = http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/nov2007/pref-n07.shtml | accessdate= 2008-01-20 ]

The SEP espouses politically far left policies, with a particular emphasis on opposition to the Iraq War. The SEP attempted to stress its differences from the Socialist Alliance, claiming that its quest for a place in Australian politics "will not take place through radical-sounding sloganeering and other protest antics, like those of the Socialist Alliance and other middle-class protest organisations". Among its candidates was the campaigner Nick Beams.cite web
last = Socialist Equality Party
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Socialist Equality Party 2007 federal election statement
work =
publisher =
date = 16 Oct 2007
url = http://www.sep.org.au/statement.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-12-21 ]

References