2001 Australian Democrats leadership spill
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| Registered | 3,000[1] | ||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 75%[1] | ||||||||||||
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Leadership election | |||||||||||||
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Deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||
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The 2001 Australian Democrats leadership spill was held in April 2001 to elect the leader of the Australian Democrats.[2]
Incumbent leader Meg Lees was defeated by deputy leader Natasha Stott Despoja after a vote of the party's rank-and-file membership, becoming the youngest-ever person to lead a federal parliamentary political party in Australia.[1] Aden Ridgeway replaced Stott Despoja as deputy leader.[3]
In 1999, after negotiations with Liberal prime minister John Howard, the Democrats party room agreed to support the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).[4] Two dissident senators on the party's left, Natasha Stott Despoja and Andrew Bartlett, voted against the GST legislation.[5]
The decision to pass the GST was opposed by the majority of Democrats rank-and-file members, and led to internal conflict and tensions surrounding the leadership of Meg Lees.[6] Under the party's constitution, a petition signed by 100 members can trigger a leadership spill.[7] Stott Despoja announced on 27 February 2001 that she would challenge Lees, and after voting took place via post, she emerged victorious on 6 April 2001.[8] Stott Despoja won 69% of the vote, as well as the support of membership in every state.[9]