A minor party forced to change its name after the State Government changed the law to prevent double-ups has applied to call itself the “Stop Pedophiles! Protect Kiddies!” party.
WA Labor feared the registration of the Democratic Labour Party — which would appear as Labour DLP on ballot papers at the State election — would cause voter confusion and cost the Government votes.
Under changes rushed through Parliament last month, the State Government created a new rule which meant where there were similarly named political parties, the newer group would need to seek approval from the original party.
As a result of the laws, the Democratic Labour Party’s secretary, Hugh Dolan, has applied to the WA Electoral Commission to rebadge the group as “Stop Pedophiles! Protect kiddies!”.
The West understands WA Labor was not asked by the DLP to continue using the “Labour’ name.
The Commission is considering objections to the new name until Thursday.
The Opposition used the laws to slam the Government for being too concerned about its vote and not West Australians.
“It’s an insult to the people of Western Australia to say that they cannot distinguish between the two names … that is saying that your voters are unable to read properly,” Opposition Leader Shane Love said last month.
“As a political organisation, you see some sort of threat coming at the next election because a party has a name that you believe is similar to your own, even though the Electoral Commissioner has agreed that the name is suitable.
“This is a piece of blatant self-interest by this WA Labor Party — a government which thinks it has the right to be a government that has the right and it will do anything it can to cement its place in those seats on that side of the chamber.”
One senior Labor source said the DLP’s presence at the election could cost the Government a seat in the Upper House through voter confusion.
Premier Roger Cook accused those who registered the DLP name of trying to “game the election” by “swindling voters”.
“They’re trying to basically garner votes by simply creating an opportunity for misunderstanding of the ballot box and to encourage someone to give them a vote when they, of course, wanted to vote for the Australian Labor Party,” Mr Cook said.
“This is not about defending the interests of Labor. This is about defending the interests of democracy and making sure that we do everything we can to ensure that our democratic processes continue to maintain the confidence of the West Australian people.”
Mr Cook said the laws were fast-tracked due to the limited parliamentary time left in the term, and the looming State Election, scheduled for March 8.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-election-2025/democratic-labour-party-applies-to-change-name-to-stop-pedophiles-party-c-17035744
