Grey Power
Grey Power, an Australian political party and lobby group, first registered in 1983. At the federal elections of 1984 and 1987 it ran candidates, but on both occasions these candidates (who included former Liberal cabinet minister Bill Wentworth) did poorly. The group was designed to represent the elderly vote, advocating issues dealing with aged care and a mature perspective on national policy; hence the name "grey power".
Grey Power ran in the 1989 Western Australian state election, garnering 5.2% of the total lower house vote. The last election which Grey Power contested was the 1997 South Australian state election, but then it only managed to receive 1.6% of the South Australian Legislative Council vote. Their preferences however significantly contributed to the election of Nick Xenophon.
The best result Grey Power ever achieved was at the 1994 Taylor state by-election in South Australia. Without a Liberal candidate in the running on this occasion, Grey Power took 13 percent of the primary vote and finished second after preferences had been distributed with a 27 percent two-candidate preferred vote.
Grey Power has reformed, in a fashion, as GreyPower Australia Party. This reincarnation has yet to be formally registered, but have the intention of of promoting the interests of Australians who are over 55 years of age. There is talk of promoting the interest of those over 45 years of age, the rationale being that those over 45 need to begin planning for their retirement.
