Australia’s ruling political party has voted in favour of a motion calling for a United Ireland at its annual national conference.
On Saturday the 19th of August, the Australian Labor Party held its 49th National Conference at the Brisbane Convention Centre, which they say is annually attended by “over 2,000 people.”
“This includes Labor’s federal, state and territory leaders and parliamentarians, union members, party members and supporters, business leaders, members of the diplomatic and international communities, not-for-profit organisations, and representatives from national and local media organisations,” the party wrote on its website, describing the conference “our highest decision-making forum and Australia’s largest political gathering.”
“National Conference plays a defining role in the future of our Party and our nation,” they added.
During the conference, one motion was put forward – Amendment 170A – on “Supporting the Reunification of Ireland,” which ended up passed.
Regarding a potential border poll, the party also called on both the British and Irish governments to “honour the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to allow all the people of Ireland to democratically decide their future in the spirit of freedom and justice.”
Ireland’s connection to Australia has gone back centuries, with around 36,000 of Australia’s 163,000 convict settlers in the late 1700s coming from Ireland.
During the 2021 Australian census, 2,410,833 residents living in Australia self-identified as having some sort of Irish ancestry.
Australian Prime Minister of the Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, is of mixed Irish and Italian heritage.