Political Party Membership in NSW – Figures for 2014-15

Updated to incorporate figures for Country Labor, and account for multi-year memberships in the Labor Party entities. Some minor errors of transcription since first publication have been corrected without notation, but thank you to commenters. If you have comments or queries, either leave them here or tweet me at @smurray38

While there has been much talk about the decline in party membership over the years, there has never been a sure way of ascertaining the state of play, given the reluctance of political parties to share the numerical health of their parties.

However as part of the funding disclosure requirements for the NSW Electoral Commission, NSW political parties are now required to disclose how much money is raised through membership and affiliation fees.

Charlie Lynn’s Dirty Dozen

In the past two years, the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Veterans Affairs and Liberal Member of the Legislative Council, Charlie Lynn, has plagiarised material for at least twelve of his speeches to the Parliament.

In July, Lynn threatened to leave the Government and the Liberal Party to sit on the Upper House crossbench if his wishes regarding local government preselections were not acceded to. After newspaper reports that a “dirt file” would be “unleashed” and following a meeting with Premier Barry O’Farrell, Lynn failed to carry out his threat.

Charlie Lynn’s Dirty Dozen: The “Death of Australian Servicemen in Afghanistan” Speech

Extracted from contribution by The Hon. Charlie Lynn MLC to lead the “Death of Australian Servicemen in Afghanistan” Debate, NSW, Parliamentary Debates Legislative Council, 13 September 2012, from page 3, and annotated as applicable:

Charlie Lynn’s Dirty Dozen: The “RSL Anzac Art Awards” Speech

Full text of Speech by The Hon. Charlie Lynn MLC, on “RSL Anzac Art Awards”, Adjournment Debate, NSW, Parliamentary Debates Legislative Council, 16 August 2012, page 13921, and annotated as applicable

Charlie Lynn’s Dirty Dozen: “Tribute to Regimental Sergeant Major Wally Thompson, AO” Speech

Full text of speech “Tribute to Regimental Sergeant Major Wally Thompson, AO” by The Hon. Charlie Lynn, Adjournment Debate, NSW, Parliamentary Debates Legislative Council, 13 June 2012, Page: 12708, and annotated as applicable

The One Day of the Year

On 4 April 2012, one of the more shameful moments in the recent history of the Legislative Council took place on what should have been one of its most solemn occasions.

Nearly one third of the 16 speakers on a motion to commemorate ANZAC Day plagiarised material from easily accessible websites to pad out their contributions to the debate.

The One Day of the Year: Speech by The Hon. Charlie Lynn MLC

Extracted from “ANZAC Day” Debate, NSW, Parliamentary Debates Legislative Council, 4 April 2012, commencing p. 10593 and annotated as applicable: