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HEART Party

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Health, Environment, Accountability, Rights, Transparency
AbbreviationHEART
LeaderMichael O'Neill
SecretaryMichael O'Neill
Founded17 August 2023
Registered3 October 2023
Dissolved
  • Queensland: 9 February 2024
  • Federal: 26 August 2024
Merger of
Preceded by
  • Informed Medical Options Party
  • Involuntary Medication Objectors Party
HeadquartersBellbrook, New South Wales
Ideology
Website
heartparty.com.au
Part of a series on
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Health, Environment, Accountability, Rights, Transparency, also known as HEART, is a minor Australian political party registered for New South Wales state elections. The party was founded as the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party, before later renaming to the Informed Medical Options Party (IMOP). In August 2023, IMOP merged with the Health Australia Party (HAP) to become HEART. The party's registered officer in New South Wales is Michael O'Neill, who also acts as its secretary and agent. Rebecca McCredie is the deputy registered officer.[1]

HEART was previously registered in Queensland, but was voluntarily deregistered on 9 February 2024. The party was also registered at the federal level until 26 August 2024, when it was deregistered for not having enough members.

History

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The Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party was first registered at the federal level by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 26 October 2016. Its registered officer was Gary Martin at the time of registration.[2]

Between 2019 and 2020, the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party applied to rename itself to the Informed Medical Options Party at the federal level.

Party founder Michael O'Neill said the "anti-vaxxer" label regularly used by critics was "insulting".[3]

In March 2020, Tom Barnett, a party candidate in the 2019 federal election, created a video discussing coronavirus. In it, he stated: "You can’t catch a virus; it's impossible" and "the only way that you can catch a virus is by having it injected into your bloodstream". The video was removed from Facebook and YouTube, with the companies stating that the video was in breach of their policies.[4]

Rebranding to the Informed Medical Options Party

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On 4 December 2019, the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party applied to the AEC to be renamed to the "Informed Medical Options Party".[5] The AEC received 27 written objections to the proposed name change, including from then-federal health minister, Greg Hunt. Most objections centred around the use of the term "Medical" and concerns that it would infer the party was based on medical evidence/science, and the chance of being confused with the Australian Medical Association. The AEC rejected the objections on the basis that the term did not meet the legislative criteria required to refuse the application.[5]

On 22 April 2020, the party was officially was renamed to the Informed Medical Options Party at the federal level.[6]

IMOP applied to the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) to change its name to HEART on 15 December 2023, and officially was renamed on 19 January 2024.[7]

As of 2 September 2024, IMOP has been formally renamed to the HEART Party and is actively listed on the New South Wales register of political parties.[8]

Merger with the Health Australia Party and rebranding to HEART

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The party announced its formation in a Facebook video, with both HAP and IMOP saying the decision to merge was made due to their similar policies.[9] However, HAP withdrew from HEART on 10 October, a week after the new party was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission.[10]

The Informed Medical Options Party was rebranded to HEART by the:

  • Australian Electoral Commission for federal elections, on 3 October 2023[11]
  • Electoral Commission of Queensland for Queensland state and local elections, on 19 January 2024[7]
  • New South Wales Electoral Commission for New South Wales state and local elections

Deregistration at the federal level

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On 20 April 2023, the Australian Electoral Commission initiated a review of the HEART Party requiring the party to submit a list of members. Australian federal law requires political parties to have at least 1,500 party members, or have a representative in parliament, to remain registered. After several extensions, HEART provided a list of 1,553 members to the AEC. Of the 1,553 members:

  • two were deceased
  • 15 members were identified as supporting the registration of multiple parties - 12 of these people removed their support for HEART when contacted
  • eight members were listed twice.

Utilising standardised methodology and formulation by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a random sample of a portion of the membership list were contacted and asked to confirm their membership of the party. A sample of 33 people were contacted, of which 31 or more must have reaffirmed their membership. 3 people denied their membership, resulting in a proportional fail and the AEC issuing a notice to the party on 13 December 2023.

On 12 January 2024, HEART provided a written response to the AEC claiming it had over 7,000 members but could not provide approved evidence of such. HEART submitted an amended list of 1,601 names, of which:

  • one was deceased
  • 26 members were identified as supporting the registration of multiple parties - 22 of these people removed their support for HEART when contacted.

Standardised proportional confirmation was re-completed by the AEC, of which 27 people were contacted and at least 26 must reaffirm their support. 5 of the 27 people contacted denied their membership resulting in a subsequent failure to meet the minimum requirements. On 26 August 2024, the formally deregistered the HEART party under s 137(6)(a) of the Electoral Act and was removed from the Register of Political Parties.[12][13]

Deregistration in Queensland

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On 25 January 2024, the deputy registered officer of HEART submitted an application to the ECQ requesting that it cancel the registration of the party. The ECQ approved the deregistration of the party on 9 February 2024.[7]

Electoral results

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Federal elections

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The party was first registered for federal elections on 26 October 2016 and was deregistered on 26 August 2024.

The party first ran in the 2019 Australian federal election as the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party. It received 1,179 primary votes for the House of Representatives (0.01%), and 17,055 primary votes for the Senate (0.12%). It did not result in any parliamentary representation.[14][15]

The party ran again in the 2022 Australian federal election, this time as the Informed Medical Options Party. It received 25,850 primary votes for the House of Representatives (0.18%), and 48,830 primary votes for the Senate (0.32%). It did not result in any parliamentary representation.[16][17]

Queensland elections

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The Informed Medical Options Party has only run in one Queensland election - the 2020 Queensland state election. The party did not win any seats, gaining 17,646 primary votes (first preference) or 0.61% of all votes.[18]

New South Wales elections

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The IMOP was not listed, or did not receive any votes. in the 2019 New South Wales state election.[19]

The "HEART" acronym was first used by IMOP at the 2023 New South Wales state election, although the party continued to be registered as the Informed Medical Options Party. The party received 11,529 primary votes, accounting for 0.25% of all primary votes in the State. No members were elected to parliament.[20][21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Senior Office Holders - Health Environment Accountability Rights Transparency (HEART)" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Notice under s.133(1A) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 – Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party". Australian Electoral Commission. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  3. ^ Hope, Zach (2 May 2020). "Vaccination-sceptic political party wins name change despite heavyweight objectors". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.
  4. ^ O'Connor, Ciaran (3 April 2020). "Coronavirus Australia: YouTube and Facebook remove Aussie's baseless video claiming, 'You can't catch a virus'". News.Com.Au. News Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b Reid, Joanne (22 April 2020). "Statement of reasons - Application to change a party name and remove an abbreviation in the register of political parties - Involuntary Medical Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Change of party name and abbreviation - Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Notices". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  8. ^ "State Register of Parties". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  9. ^ Puglisi, Leonardo (17 August 2023). "Two 'freedom parties' merge as they look to get elected for first time". 6 News Australia. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  10. ^ Golden, Isaac. "A Final Word on the Health Australia Party". Health Australia Party. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Change of name, abbreviation, and remove logo - Informed Medical Options Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Notice of deregistration - Health Environment Accountability Rights Transparency (HEART)" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Statement of reasons - Deregistration of Health Environment Accountability Rights Transparency (HEART)" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  14. ^ "First preferences by party - 2019 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission Tally Room. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  15. ^ "First preference by Senate group - 2019 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission Tally Room. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  16. ^ "First preferences by party - 2022 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission Tally Room. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  17. ^ "First preferences by Senate group - 2022 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission Tally Room. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  18. ^ "2020 State General Election results". Electoral Commission Queensland. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  19. ^ "2023 NSW State election results". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  20. ^ Watts, Ellie-Marie (19 March 2023). "Meet Port Stephens state election candidate Angela Ketas from the Informed Medical Options Party". Port Stephens Examiner.
  21. ^ "2023 NSW State election results". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 25 March 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
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