Briton split the party and formed the Australian Communist Party alongside other former members. On 13–14 April 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Australia elected a new leadership led by General Secretary Andrew Irving and National President Vinnie Molina. Policies The current CPA is a traditional Marxist–Leninist communist party whose ultimate objective is the revolutionary transformation of Australian society and the establishment of socialism in Australia. It describes its objective as being to "change the direction of politics in Australia and eventually, to replace the capitalist system with a socialist one." The party's policies are inspired by those of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin. The party has strong, historical links to the Australian trade union movement. The party maintains friendly relations with communist and socialist parties overseas and is a participant in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP). The party's main policies are: The socialist reconstruction of the Australian society An end to privatisations of assets owned by the federal and state governments To free Australia from foreign transnationals Regulation by the Federal Government of prices, profit levels, and interest rates The abolition of the Goods and Services Tax Expansion of the public sector Increase in the national minimum wage Increase in pension, unemployment benefits Reduction of the working week Halt reductions in tariffs Reduction of military spending Elections Michael Perth contested the seat of Port Adelaide in the 1998 and in the 2001 federal elections, but polled less than 1% of the vote in both cases. Bob Briton contested the SA state seat of Lee in 2010 and polled 2.9% of the votes. At the 2010 federal election the party endorsed a candidate for the House of Representatives seat of Sydney as part of the Communist Alliance. The party received 0.83% or 656 of the 79,377 votes cast. It also endorsed two candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, receiving 0.17% or 6,999 of the 4,333,267 votes cast. The Australian Electoral Commission deregistered Communist Alliance successor name The Communists on 22 May 2012 due to the party failing to prove it had 500 members. The Communist Party of Australia received its first electoral win with the election of Tony Oldfield in local government elections on 8 September 2012 to Auburn City Council, New South Wales. The Communist Party of Australia planned to run candidates in the 2016 federal election, but