Chardonnay socialist

"Chardonnay socialist" is a derogatory Australasian term used to describe those on the political left with comfortable middle-class (or better) incomes, tertiary education, and a taste for the finer things in life. (Chardonnay is a style of white wine.)

It is similar in thrust to the American term limousine liberal, though without quite the same taint of great wealth attaching to it. (Note that " socialist" in International English means much the same as "liberal" in American English.)

Australia and New Zealand have long traditions of state participation in the economy under both conservative and socialist governments that only began to change in the 1980s, ironically under the leadership of the Labor government of Bob Hawke in Australia and under the aegis of the New Zealand Labour Party government of David Lange[?] in New Zealand.

The term "chardonnay socialist" is regularly used by people from throughout the political spectrum to criticise opponents. For example, Australian left-wing "true believers" levelled it at supporters of the failed republic referendum of 1999 (where the vote was split not along conventional party lines but very much along socio-economic divides, with the rich overwhelmingly supporting the change while the less well-off were opposed - a superficially bizarre pattern for a non-economic issue). Staunch Australian right-wingers, on the other hand, level it at those who support such things as government funding for the arts, free tertiary education, and the ABC - all causes which are described by critics as "middle-class welfare".

See also:

• Champagne socialist[?]
• Salon bolshevik[?]