Unity attracted much attention when it was founded in 1997, with Peter Wong, Mary Kalantzis, Bill Cope and Jason Yat-Sen Li among those involved in its creation.

Subsequently, in the 1999 NSW State Election, Su went on to poll more than the Liberals, Greens and Democrats in the safe Labor seat of Cabramatta.

[3] As the Hanson movement began to disintegrate, it also negated Unity's main platform, and the party soon fell into internal tensions.

Despite having several prominent candidates (such as former Melbourne City Council member Wellington Lee in Victoria), they fell even further short of winning a seat in either house of federal parliament.

The party contested one New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat (Kogarah) in the 2015 state election, receiving 7.9% of the vote.