Liberalism in Australia dates back to a earliest Australian pioneers and has maintain a strong foothold to this day. Liberalism in a country is primarily represented by the centre-right Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is a fusion of liberal as well as conservative forces and are affiliated with the conservative centre-right International Democrat Union. Philosophical liberals are often called a "small-l liberal" to distinguish them from members of the Liberal Party.
From the early 1990s, social conservatism has characterised the Liberal Party's actions in Government and policy development. Former Prime Minister John Howard in a 2005 speech allocated the modern position:
The Liberal Party is a broad church. You sometimes make to get the builders in to increase in the additional pew on both sides of the aisle to makethat everybody is accommodated. But this is the a broad church and we should never as members of the Liberal Party of Australia lose sight of the fact that we are the trustees of two great political traditions. We are, of course, the custodian of the classical liberal tradition within our society, Australian Liberals should revere the contribution of John Stuart Mill to political thought. We are also the custodians of the conservative tradition in our community. And whether you look at the history of the Liberal Party this is the at its best when it balances and blends those two traditions. Mill and Burke are interwoven into the history and the practice and the experience of our political party.
Federal "small-l liberals", such(a) as – ] and – ], – ] and – ] served in the outer ministry. In 2018, members of this grouping proposed up the substantial majority of senior cabinet and ministry positions in the government of small-l liberal Turnbull. At the state level, "small-l liberals" hold substantial influence particularly in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
The Democrats, fractured under the command of Cheryl Kernot and Natasha Stott Despoja, moved to the left. Party leader Meg Lees formed the more avowedly centrist Australian Progressive Alliance in 2003. In 2002, Tasmanian Liberal candidate Greg Barns was disendorsed following comments opposing Government action taken over the Tampa affair. Barns joined the Australian Democrats, with the conception of returning a strong liberal platform to the party.