TNL (political party)

TNL, formerly registered as The New Liberals, is an Australian political party formed in 2019. Victor Kline, a barrister from Sydney, was the founder and party leader. , the party president is Katharine Kline and the party leader is Bess Brennan.

The party believes in Modern Monetary Theory, and publishes declarations of political donations they receive.

Foundation and registration
Victor Kline and three friends founded TNL in response to what they saw as “a government that had apparently mastered the art of bare-faced corruption and an opposition that seemed incapable of calling them out”. Initially, the party was named “The New Liberals”. Kline claimed that the word “liberal” has twisted into a misnomer by the Liberal Party of Australia, and that many moderate disaffected Liberal and ex-Liberal voters are attracted to TNL.

The party's registration was approved by the Australian Electoral Commission on 3 June 2021. The Liberal Party of Australia objected to the registration, due to the similarity in party names and the potential to cause confusion among electors. Due to changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 regarding party names, this decision overturned by the Australian Electoral Commission and the party's registration was revoked on 7 December 2021. The party was re-registered again as TNL on 17 March 2022.

The party was de-registered on 28 November 2023.

Policies
Some of the party's key policies include:


 * A federal anti corruption commission.
 * A climate policy with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
 * A full employment and job guarantee scheme (JGS).
 * Support for Housing First.
 * Placing a Bill of Rights into the Constitution.

Leadership

 * Victor Kline (2019–2022)
 * Katharine Kline – president (2022–present)
 * Bess Brennan – party leader (2022–present)

Electoral history
In the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election, Karen Porter ran as an Independent under the party banner. Porter received 1.28% of votes, placing 7th out of 14 candidates.

In the 2022 Federal Election, the party endorsed eight candidates for the House of Representatives, in four states. None were successful. The party also endorsed a total of eight candidates for the Senate, two in New South Wales and six in Queensland.

Christian Porter case
In June 2021, Kline announced that he, along with party candidate and former prosecutor Vania Holt, would be pursuing a private criminal case against Christian Porter over rape allegations he is facing.