Australian Democrats

Minor party in Australian politics which often holds the balance of power in the Australian Senate. Originally formed by Don Chipp as a breakaway party from the Liberal Party , the Democrats are now considered to be left of the ALP. The most famous slogan of the Democrats is "We'll keep the bastards honest".

Other minor parties are the The Greens, The West Australian Greens, and One Nation.

The Australian Democrats are currently well known for their role in making the GST in Australia exempt fresh food - and thus creating a big mess some foods are taxed and others not (for example, fresh fish is GST taxable because it is consumable as sashimi whilst frozen fish is GST-free).

One good thing about the Democrats are that their rise to power in the Australian Senate means that Brian Harradine is no longer in the spotlight.

The current leader of the Australian Democrats is the charismatic Natasha Stott Despoja who took over from Meg Lees in a intraparty power struggle in 2001.