The Liberal Democratic Party, shortened as LDP, Liberal Democrats, or Lib Dems, is an Australian political party founded in Canberra in 2001. The party espouses smaller government and supports policies that are based on classical liberal, libertarian principles, such as lower taxes, opposing restrictions on civil liberties, decentralisation, utilising nuclear energy, and the relaxation of smoking laws. The LDP is a registered party in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia and is also registered for federal elections with the Australian Electoral Commission. As of May 2021, it has two representatives in the Victorian Legislative Council, Tim Quilty and David Limbrick, and elected representatives in some local governments. In April 2022, Sam McMahon, a senator sitting as an independent after resigning from the Country Liberal Party in January 2022, joined the Liberal Democrats, giving the party representation in the Australian Senate. However, she lost her seat in the 2022 federal election and the party was deregistered at the federal level on 19 July 2022. History Formation The Liberal Democratic Party was founded in 2001 as a political party registered in the Australian Capital Territory. It first contested elections in the 2001 ACT election, receiving 1 percent of the vote. The party also contested the 2004 ACT election, receiving 1.3 percent of the vote. In 2006, changes to the Electoral Act by the Howard government forced all parties without parliamentary representation to deregister and re-register under stricter naming rules. Advised by the Australian Electoral Commission that federal registration under the original name was uncertain given opposition by the Liberal Party of Australia, the party chose to register federally as the Liberty and Democracy Party in 2007. The Liberty and Democracy Party contested 2007 federal election, winning 17,048 votes (0.14 percent) in the lower house and 16,942 votes (0.13 percent) in the upper house. In 2008, the party successfully applied to the Australian Electoral Commission to change its federally registered name to Liberal Democratic Party. During this period, the party remained registered under its original name in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Initial electoral contests In 2010, the party contests 2010 federal election, receiving 1.8 percent of the national senate vote and an average of 1.3 percent across the 21 lower house seats it contested, with a best of 5.52 percent in Gippsland. In 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party had its first successful election win. Jeff