Liberals for Forests is an Australian political minor party. It has contested both state and federal elections in recent years, but has only achieved one elected representative - Janet Woollard

Janet Woollard

Janet May Woollard is the sitting member for the seat of Alfred Cove in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.She stood for the seat in the February 2001 State election as an Independent candidate , and defeated the incumbent and frontbencher Doug Shave who as Fair Trading Minister, was...

 (elected as an Independent) in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. It has no representation at the federal level.

The party was founded in 2001 by Dr Keith Woollard, husband of Janet Woollard and an ex-AMA

Australian Medical Association

The Australian Medical Association is a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students.The AMA uses a representative structure involving state branches and committees to work with members to promote and protect the interests of doctors.The mechanisms that allow this include:*...

 president.

The Party generally professes itself to be ideologically aligned with the centre-right sympathies of the Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

, but with a greater regard to environmentalism

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

.

Despite its low profile, the party has gained a respectable proportion of the primary Senate vote in some states. For example, in the 2004 election it received only a few hundred votes less than the Australian Democrats

Australian Democrats

The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...

 in Victoria.

Name

The registered party name at the Australian Electoral Commission

Australian Electoral Commission

The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...

 and the Western Australian Electoral Commission was "liberals for forests" (uncapitalised). As of late 2009, liberals for forests is no longer a registered political party anywhere in Australia.

See also

• Small-l liberal - a term used by LFF candidates to describe themselves in order to attract the support of mildly disenchanted Coalition voters

External links

• Liberals for Forests official site