page_title: Centre Party (New South Wales)
section_title: Background and formation
hierarchical_section_title: Centre Party (New South Wales) / History / Background and formation
caption_attribution_description: English: Eric Campbell, Australian solicitor and leader of the New Guard, in 1931.
context_page_description: The Centre Party, occasionally referred to as the Centre Movement, was a short-lived political party that operated in the Australian state of New South Wales. Founded in December 1933, the party's leader and most prominent figure was Eric Campbell, the leader of the paramilitary New Guard movement. That organisation had been established to oppose what its members perceived as the socialist tendencies of Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales, but declined following Lang's dismissal in early 1932.
  The Centre Party contested five seats at the 1935 state election, and its candidates placed second to the United Australia Party in two electorates, with almost 20% of the vote. However, it polled poorly in the other seats it contested, and disbanded shortly after the election. The Centre Party is generally seen as the political extension of the remnant of the New Guard, which had decreased in popularity and influence, and, under Campbell's leadership, had become increasingly inclined towards fascism.
context_section_description: With Eric Campbell, a solicitor and former officer in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), as "principal founder", the New Guard was established in February 1931, open to "all loyal citizens irrespective of creed, party, social or financial position". Campbell's new organisation sprang out of the Old Guard, a "secretive" group of Sydney-based businessmen formed to oppose Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales and the leader of the Labor Party, which had gained power at the October 1930 state election. At the height of its power, the movement had been "overwhelmingly a middle-class organisation", and was, in general, "virulently opposed by workers and trade unions", with the exception of the Railway Service Association and other right-wing unions. Its main goal was achieved in early May 1932, when Lang's government was dismissed by Sir Philip Game, the Governor of New South Wales. Lang had refused to pay interest on loans from overseas creditors, and withdrew government money from bank accounts to prevent the federal government from appropriating it for that purpose. He was replaced as premier by Bertram Stevens, who led a coalition of the conservative United Australia Party and United Country Party to a landslide victory at the subsequent June 1932 state election. The anti-Labor parties together gained 31 seats and won just under half of the popular vote.
  The New Guard and other radical groups "lost much of their motivation" following the defeat of Lang at the 1932 election, with the New Guard confronted with an "unmistakable decline in membership" following Lang's dismissal. In late 1932, Campbell had begun to outline more fully his political beliefs, producing a series of broadcasts in which he develop a "complete credo for a fascist State", most notably incorporating a "non-elective cabinet or commission, a corporative assembly, vocational franchise and a charter of liberty". He also stated his intentions to contest the next state election, a date for which had not yet been set. In early 1933, Campbell toured Europe, meeting with Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, and also with German and Italian leaders. However, on his return to Australia, Campbell's support for an "openly pro-fascist policy" was met with strong opposition from the Guard's "anti-fascist moderates". These attempts to "establish the movement as Australia's first fascist party" are thought to have "hastened the New Guard's decline", with many previous members "disinclined to accept what was in fact the movement's true character".
  The Centre Party was officially established in December 1933 at a meeting of "over 1,000 people", with The Sydney Morning Herald reporting that "100 branches" of the party would be established. The "majority of the diminishing movement" endorsed its move into electoral politics, which was, according to Campbell, "necessitated by the failure of the UAP governments, at both federal and state levels, to accede to the New Guard's demands". The party did not contest the September 1934 federal election, as there was "not time to organise it". An August 1934 meeting of the New Guard reaffirmed Campbell as leader, and resolved to "make itself felt in the next State elections".
caption: Eric Campbell was the Centre Party's founder, and leader throughout its brief history.
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