First Political Party Dedicated to the Working Class Is Founded
On March 22, 1859, the Political Labour League of Victoria was established in Melbourne, marking the founding of the first political party explicitly dedicated to representing the interests of the working class in Australia. While various organizations advocating for labor rights existed prior, this league uniquely organized as a political entity capable of participating in the emerging democratic framework of the time. The foundation of the League was influenced by significant labor unrest and demands for improved working conditions, notably the push for an eight-hour workday, which was a widespread issue during the Industrial Revolution. Ben Douglas, a prominent labor activist and chairman of the local Eight Hour Committee, played a key role in its formation. This movement eventually gave rise to other local Labour Leagues across Australia, culminating in the creation of the national Political Labour League in 1891, which evolved into the Australian Labour Party (ALP). Today, the ALP remains one of the major political parties in Australia, historically aligned with labor unions and the broader labor movement. The establishment of the Political Labour League was a significant milestone in the political landscape, promoting the rights and interests of working-class individuals in a rapidly industrializing society.
First Political Party Dedicated to the Working Class Is Founded
First Political Party Dedicated to the Working Class Is Founded
On March 22, 1859, the Political Labour League of Victoria, the first political party dedicated to the working class, was founded in the city of Melbourne, which is located in the region of Australia now known as the State of Victoria. The Labour League was not the first organization formed to promote the interests of the working class; many such organizations had already sprung up in Europe and elsewhere. However, it was the first to organize itself as a genuine political party, and it participated in the limited but expanding democratic institutions of Australia, which at that time was still a British colony.
Other local Labour Leagues would spring up across the country, and in 1891 a national Political Labour League was formed, which became the Australian Labour Party. Today the Australian Labour Party (ALP) is one of the four major Australian political parties, the other three being the Australian Democrats, the Liberal Party of Australia, and the National Party of Australia. Historically the ALP has been the party of the Australian labor unions and labor movement.
The formation of the Political Labour League of Victoria came about at a time of serious labor unrest throughout Australia and particularly in Melbourne. Among their various grievances, workers and laborers were demanding an eight-hour work day. This was a common demand by organized labor everywhere during the 19th century, since the burgeoning Industrial Revolution was virtually unregulated and mill hands were often expected to work from dawn until dusk. Twelve- and sometimes fourteen-hour days left little time for family, recreation, proper meals, or proper rest. Ben Douglas, a plasterer, was the chairman of the local Eight Hour Committee in Melbourne, which was formed to pursue this cause, and in 1857 he became the chairman of the local United Trades Association, which in 1859 built Melbourne's first Trades Hall. That same year the Political Labour League of Victoria was formed with Douglas as its chairman to help pursue the aims of Australian labor in the political realm, including but not limited to the eight-hour work day.