Why is the Australian Labor Party spelt without a 'u'? [closed]

australian-english

In both the UK and New Zealand there are Labour parties spelt with a u.

The Labour Party.

The New Zealand Labour Party

In Australia, it's The Labor Party.

Australian Labor Party

What explains this discrepancy? Given that all three have similar spellings for everything else (eg. 'colour', 'realise').


Solution 1:

The Australian spelling of labour is just like the BrE one. The reason why labour is spelled labor in Australian Labor Party is an important historical one:

Australian Labor Party:

  • The ALP adopted the formal name "Australian Labour Party" in 1908, but changed the spelling to "Labor" in 1912. While it is standard practice in Australian English both today and at the time to spell the word "labour" with a "u", the party was influenced by the United States labor movement, and a prominent figure in the early history of the party, the American-born King O'Malley, was successful in having the spelling "modernised".

  • The change also made it easier to distinguish references to the party from the labour movement in general.

(Wikipedia)

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