jewel in the Liberal crown

English

Noun

jewel in the Liberal crown

1. (Australian politics, historical) Victoria, a state of Australia
2. (Australian politics) any state where the Liberal Party has a large supporter base (currently used to refer to Queensland and Tasmania)

Usage notes

"Liberal" refers to the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Before 1985, the Liberal Party was dominant in Victoria and the Labor Party was dominant in the most populous parts of New South Wales (i.e Sydney and the Hunter Region). However, after the late 1980s, this began to change, with the Liberal Party (in coalition with the National Party) having been in recently power New South Wales for 12 years (between 2011 and 2023), while the Labor Party is dominant in Victoria. Due to this, the term has now been applied to New South Wales and Queensland, as well as increasingly to Tasmania. Victoria has even been referred to as the "jewel in the Labor Party's crown".