Outdoor Recreation Party

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The Outdoor Recreation Party is a minor political party in Australia. It largely represents the outdoor community and such interests as camping, kayaking, cycling, 4WDing, skiing, walking, fishing lobbies, as well as similar recreational groups that risk being affected by extremist conservation groups implementing "wilderness" deviod of human interaction. Their main platform is based around community involvement with nature.

It has contested several federal and state elections, though it has only managed to elect one state MP, Malcolm Jones, who was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1999 due to a very strong flow of preferences from other parties, despite receiving only 0.2% of the popular vote. Jones was forced to resign in 2003 amidst a corruption scandal, and party member Dr Jon Jenkins was elected by the Legislative Council to serve out the remainder of Jones' term, which does not end until 2007. Since Dr Jenkins' election there has been a distinct change in the character of the ORP.

There is some doubt as to whether the party will continue beyond the 2007 New South Wales state election, as they did not contest the 2003 election after a change in electoral laws made it more difficult for small parties to elect candidates. Further, although not alone in this respect, the ORP constitution makes it difficult for the rank and file to implement change in the direction of the ORP to a wider platform and as a result many members have become disillusioned with the party.

Outdoor Recreation Party

See also