Editing Australian Democrats (section)

===1990–1993: Janet Powell and John Coulter===
Despite the loss of Haines and the WA Senate seat (through an inconsistent national preference agreement with the ALP), the 1990 federal election heralded something of a rebirth for the party, with a dramatic rise in primary vote. This was at the same time as an economic [[recession]] was building, and events such as the [[Gulf War]] in Kuwait were beginning to shepherd issues of globalisation and transnational trade on to national government agendas.

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'''Election Results'''<br />
'''Senate – National'''
{{center|
*[[1977 Australian federal election|1977]]: 11.1%
*[[1980 Australian federal election|1980]]: {{0}}9.3%
*[[1983 Australian federal election|1983]]: {{0}}9.6%
*[[1984 Australian federal election|1984]]: {{0}}7.6%
*[[1987 Australian federal election|1987]]: {{0}}8.5%
*[[1990 Australian federal election|1990]]: 12.6%
*[[1993 Australian federal election|1993]]: {{0}}5.3%
*[[1996 Australian federal election|1996]]: 10.8%
*[[1998 Australian federal election|1998]]: {{0}}8.4%
*[[2001 Australian federal election|2001]]: {{0}}7.3%
*[[2004 Australian federal election|2004]]: {{0}}2.1%
*[[2007 Australian federal election|2007]]: {{0}}1.3%
*[[2010 Australian federal election|2010]]: {{0}}0.6%
*[[2013 Australian federal election|2013]]: {{0}}0.3%
*[[2016 Australian federal election|2016]]: {{0}}0.0%*
*[[2019 Australian federal election|2019]]: {{0}}0.2%^
*[[2022 Australian federal election|2022]]: {{0}}0.4%^^}}*''Did not contest''
^NSW, SA, & VIC Only

^^NSW, VIC, QLD, WA,
<br />& SA Only
|}
The Australian Democrats had a long-standing policy to oppose war and so opposed Australia's support of, and participation in, the Gulf War. Whereas the House of Representatives was able to avoid any debate about the war and Australia's participation,{{efn|The sole independent member in the House, [[Ted Mack (politician)|Ted Mack]], was unable to launch his critical motion for lack of a seconder.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Iraq%20%20Dataset%3Ahansardr,hansards,hansardr80,hansards80%20%28%28SpeakerId%3AAT4%29%29%20Date%3A01%2F08%2F1990%20%3E%3E%2001%2F04%2F1992;rec=0;resCount=Default|title=Ted Mack's speech on Gulf War|publisher=Parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au|access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> the Democrats took full advantage of the opportunity to move for a debate in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=393706&TABLE=HANSARDS|title=Senate Hansard, 21&nbsp;Jan 1991|publisher=Parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au|access-date=25 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604000618/http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=393706&TABLE=HANSARDS|archive-date=4 June 2011}}</ref>

Because of the party's [[Pacifism|pacifist]]-based opposition to the Gulf War, there was mass-media antipathy and negative publicity which some construed as poor media performance by Janet Powell, the party's standing having stalled at about 10%. Before 12 months of her leadership had passed, the South Australian and Queensland divisions were circulating the party's first-ever petition to criticise and oust the parliamentary leader. The explicit grounds related to Powell's alleged responsibility for poor AD ratings in Gallup and other media surveys of potential voting support. When this charge was deemed insufficient, interested party officers and senators reinforced it with negative [[News leak|media 'leaks']] concerning her openly established relationship with [[Sid Spindler]]<ref>Paas, Hans. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/04/1025667033717.html A cautionary tale of hypocrisy and ambition]. ''[[The Age]]'', 5 July 2002. Accessed 22 December 2015</ref> and exposure of administrative failings resulting in excessive overtime to a staff member. With National Executive blessing, the party room pre-empted the ballot by replacing the leader with deputy [[John Coulter (politician)|John Coulter]]. In the process, severe internal divisions were generated. One major collateral casualty was the party whip [[Paul McLean (politician)|Paul McLean]] who resigned and quit the Senate in disgust at what he perceived as in-fighting between close friends. The casual NSW vacancy created by his resignation was filled by [[Karin Sowada]]. Powell duly left the party, along with many leading figures of the Victorian branch of the party, and unsuccessfully stood as an Independent candidate when her term expired. In later years, she campaigned for the Australian Greens.