[SimeSublime]

We have the multiparty thing here, and actually have parties that play off that. The Democrats motto is "Keeping the Bastards Honest". They get a few seats in parliment, and tend to act as a moderating force. For example, they would say "we'll suport you with that, if you just change this little bit". That being said, after the last election the Liberal Party(think Republicans) hold majority in both the House of Reps and the Senate, so for all intensive purposes, we're now a one party system for the next few years.

[Slade]

So is calling your conservative party the Liberal Party just some doublespeak then?

[SimeSublime]

I don't know. I actually always thought Liberal meant repressive and backwards due to the party name. Perhaps a bit of research would fix this.

According to their website, Sir Robert Menzies opening address:

"......what we must look for, and it is a matter of desperate importance to our society, is a true revival of liberal thought which will work for social justice and security, for national power and national progress, and for the full development of the individual citizen, though not through the dull and deadening process of socialism."

It appears they have been sidetracked over time.