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131-685: Defunct Defunct The Liberal–National Coalition , commonly known simply as the Coalition or the LNP , is an alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics . The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia (the latter previously known as

262-468: A Cabinet of 11, including the Treasurer portfolio and the second rank in the ministry for himself. These terms were unusually stiff for a prospective junior coalition partner in a Westminster system, and especially so for such a new party. Nonetheless, with no other politically realistic coalition partner available, Bruce readily agreed, and the "Bruce-Page Ministry" was formed. This began the tradition of

393-573: A Coalition under the leadership of Jeff Kennett . Although the Liberals won enough seats to govern alone, Kennett retained the Nationals in his government. When Peter Ryan became leader of the Nationals shortly after the Kennett government's 1999 election defeat, he terminated the Coalition agreement and led the Nationals into the 2002 and 2006 elections separately from the Liberals. However,

524-646: A century in which the government won a seat off the opposition in a by-election. In the 2023 New South Wales state election , the top 10 electorates in terms of Chinese ancestry all saw big swings to Labor. However, the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party managed to hold many state seats with large Chinese communities (such as the Sydney seats of Drummoyne , Epping , Holsworthy , Lane Cove , Miranda , Oatley and Ryde ). A Coalition between

655-542: A decade. With this in mind, in August 1941 the Coalition collectively decided that Fadden and Menzies should swap positions, with Menzies becoming Minister for Defence Co-ordination and Fadden becoming prime minister. It was the first and only occasion on which the Coalition was led by the leader of the junior party. However, the Fadden government only lasted a few months before losing a confidence motion and being replaced by

786-521: A few brief cessations within a parliamentary system, most commentators and the general public often refer to the Coalition as if it were a single party. Polling and electoral results contain a two-party-preferred (TPP) vote which is based on Labor and the Coalition. The Australian Electoral Commission has distinguished between "traditional" (Coalition/Labor) two-party-preferred (TPP/2PP) contests, and "non-traditional" ( Independent , Greens , Liberal vs National) two-candidate-preferred (TCP/2CP) contests. At

917-401: A few months after the federal election, and his party was heavily defeated in 1989. The federal National Party were badly defeated at the 1990 election , with leader Charles Blunt one of five MPs to lose his seat. Blunt's successor as leader, Tim Fischer , recovered two seats at the 1993 election , but lost an additional 1.2% of the vote from its 1990 result. In 1996, as the Coalition won

1048-545: A joint Senate ticket, though they ran separate House tickets. The UAP came up only four seats short of a majority in its own right. The Emergency Committee of South Australia , which stood for the UAP and Country Party in South Australia, joined the UAP party room , giving the UAP enough support to rule alone. However, the parties once again joined in a full Coalition government following the 1934 federal election . After

1179-540: A large number of three-cornered contests allowed Labor to win a third term under Bob Hawke ; however, in 1987 the National Party won a bump in votes and recorded its highest vote in more than four decades, but it also recorded a new low in the proportion of seats won. The collapse of Joh for Canberra also proved to be the Queensland Nationals' last hurrah; Bjelke-Petersen was forced into retirement

1310-505: A merger. McMahon reiterated his view after Labor won the 1974 election , and Billy Snedden , his successor as leader of the Liberal Party, also stated that he favoured a merger. During the 1980s, former Nationals MP Peter Nixon reviewed the party and "concluded it should seriously consider amalgamating with the Liberals". Former Nationals leader Doug Anthony wrote not long afterward, "Any objective and rational National Party member who read this report would have to accept that amalgamation

1441-424: A mixture of formal agreements and informal conventions. There is a single Coalition frontbench , both in government and in opposition , with each party receiving a proportionate number of positions. By convention, the leader of the Liberal Party serves as the overall leader, serving as prime minister when the Coalition is in government and leader of the opposition when the Coalition is in opposition. The leader of

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1572-512: A non-tertiary qualification or no educational qualification. Homeowners vote more for the Coalition than any other party, and the State of Queensland is its biggest electorate by two-party-preferred vote percentage (though by primary vote, Tasmania is the state with the highest Coalition vote). The Coalition also gathers significant support from Australians in regional, rural and remote areas, whilst lacking significant support in most parts of

1703-477: A prospective junior partner in a Westminster system (and especially so for a relatively new party) – five seats in an 11-member cabinet, as well as the Treasurer 's post and second rank in the ministry for Page. Nonetheless, Bruce agreed rather than force a new election. Since then, the leader of the Country Party, which evolved into the National Party, has ranked second in nearly all non-Labor governments,

1834-539: A region's group of countries') parliament(s), and, in a broader scope, to foster the bilateral relations between said countries. Parliamentary friendship groups play an important role in New Zealand's engagement in inter-parliamentary relations, with group members often called upon to participate and host meetings for visiting delegations from the other part, as well as often being invited by the other country's parliament to visit it. Friendship Groups do not speak for

1965-409: A result, both parties competed against each other and fought elections separately from 1952 to 1989. The presence of John McEwen , a Victorian, as number-two man in the federal government from 1958 to 1971 (including a brief stint as interim Prime Minister) did little to change this. The Liberals and Nationals reached a Coalition agreement in 1990. They fought and won the 1992 and 1996 elections as

2096-671: A seat in the House of Representatives at the Corangamite by-election held in December 1918, with the help of the newly introduced preferential voting system. At the 1919 federal election the state-based Country Parties won federal seats in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. They also began to win seats in state parliaments. In 1920 the Country Party was established as a national party led by William McWilliams from Tasmania. In his first speech as leader, McWilliams laid out

2227-705: A serious proposition. The relationship between the two parties varies at state and territory level. The situation in New South Wales and Victoria broadly mirrors that at federal level, while in Western Australia the parties are much more independent of each other. In the Northern Territory the territorial parties merged in 1974 to form the Country Liberal Party (CLP), and in 2008 the Queensland state-level parties merged, forming

2358-551: A significant victory over the Keating Labor government, the National Party recovered another two seats, and Fischer became deputy prime minister under John Howard . The Nationals experienced difficulties in the late 1990s from two fronts – firstly from the Liberal Party, who were winning seats on the basis that the Nationals were not seen to be a sufficiently separate party, and from the One Nation Party riding

2489-445: A small decline in vote, down 0.10% to attain 4.51% of the primary vote. The official state and territorial party organisations (or equivalents) of the National Party are: The Nationals see their main role as giving a voice to Australians who live outside the country's metropolitan areas. Traditionally, the leader of the National Party serves as Deputy Prime Minister when the Coalition is in government. This tradition dates back to

2620-549: A status formalised in 1967 when the post of Deputy Prime Minister was formally created to denote Country leader John McEwen 's status as the number-two man in the government. The Nationalist–Country Coalition was reelected twice, and continued in office until its defeat in 1929 . The Country Party and the Nationalists' successor party, the United Australia Party , fought the 1931 federal election with

2751-665: A swell of rural discontent with many of the policies such as multiculturalism and gun control embraced by all of the major parties. The rise of Labor in formerly safe National-held areas in rural Queensland, particularly on the coast, has been the biggest threat to the Queensland Nationals. At the 1998 Federal election, the National Party recorded only 5.3% of the vote in the House of Representatives, its lowest ever, and won only 16 seats, at 10.8% its second lowest proportion of seats. The National Party under Fischer and his successor, John Anderson, rarely engaged in public disagreements with

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2882-565: A two-party-preferred basis was 6.6 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in other seats. This resulted in the Liberal Party losing many federal seats with large Chinese communities in 2022 to Labor (losing Bennelong and Reid in Sydney and Chisholm in Melbourne to Labor and Kooyong in Melbourne to a teal independent ), as well as losing Aston in 2023 , which was the first time in over

3013-670: Is Perin Davey , Senator for New South Wales. The Country Party was formally founded in 1913 in Western Australia, and nationally in 1920, from a number of state-based parties such as the Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) and the Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales . Australia's first Country Party was founded in 1912 by Harry J. Stephens , editor of The Farmer & Settler , but, under fierce opposition from rival newspapers, failed to gain momentum. The VFU won

3144-543: Is caused by the fact that the Liberal and National candidates are campaigning against each other, without long-term damage to the relationship. Indeed, the whole point of introducing preferential voting was to allow safe spoiler-free, three-cornered contests. It was a government of the Nationalist Party , a forerunner to the modern Liberal Party which introduced the legislation, following Labor's unexpected win at

3275-403: Is led by John Pesutto and the National Party by Peter Walsh . The Country Party was the stronger coalition partner on multiple occasions from the 1920s through to the 1950s, and Country leaders served as Premier of Victoria on five separate occasions. However, the relationship between the two parties was somewhat strained for most of the second half of the 20th century. In 1948, the coalition

3406-548: Is sometimes dubbed "McEwenism". This was the period of the Country Party's greatest power, as was demonstrated in 1962 when McEwen was able to insist that Menzies sack a Liberal Minister who claimed that Britain's entry into the European Economic Community was unlikely to severely impact the Australian economy as a whole. Menzies retired in 1966 and was succeeded by Harold Holt . McEwen thus became

3537-399: Is the only party that has attempted to paint itself as representing rural voters above all else", In June 2005, party leader John Anderson announced that he would resign from the ministry and as Leader of the Nationals due to a benign prostate condition, he was succeeded by Mark Vaile. At the following 2007 election , the Nationals vote declined further, with the party winning a mere 5.4% of

3668-515: Is to support the leadership by enforcing party discipline . In Armenia , political parties often form parliamentary groups before running in elections. Prior to the 2021 Armenian parliamentary elections , four different parliamentary groups were formed. A parliamentary group must pass the 7% electoral threshold in order to gain representation in the National Assembly . Higher electoral thresholds for parliamentary groups discourages

3799-407: Is typically led by a parliamentary group leader or chairperson , though some parliamentary groups have two or more co-leaders . If the parliamentary group is represented in the legislature, the leader is almost always chosen from among the sitting members; if the leader does not yet have a seat in the legislature, a sitting member of the group may be expected to resign to make way for him or her. If

3930-497: The 1918 Swan by-election where the conservative vote split. Two months later, the Corangamite by-election held under preferential voting caused the initially leading ALP candidate to lose after some lower-placed candidates' preferences had been distributed. As a result of variations on the preferential voting system used in every state and territory, the Coalition has been able to thrive, wherever both its member parties have both been active. The preferential voting system has allowed

4061-544: The 1947 state election , although the Coalition did not form government during this period. Western Australia has never had a premier from the Country/National Party. In May 1949, the Liberal and Country League was formed to attempt to merge Country Party (then called County Democratic League or CDL) and Liberal Party together. This did not eventuate and the CDL did not join the new party. The National Party

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4192-410: The 1974 federal election as a Coalition. The Coalition remained together upon entering opposition in 1983 federal election . The Coalition suffered another break, related to the " Joh for Canberra " campaign, from April to August 1987, the rift healing after the 1987 federal election . The solidity of the Coalition is so strong that when the Liberals won parliamentary majorities in their own right in

4323-489: The 1975 , 1977 and 1996 federal elections , the Coalition was retained. In the 2007 federal election , the Coalition lost to the Labor Party and went into opposition. The Coalition regained office in the 2013 federal election as a majority government. In October 2018, the Coalition went into minority government for the second time in its history, when the seat of Wentworth was won by Independent Kerryn Phelps in

4454-498: The 2010 federal election , all eight seats which resulted in a two-candidate-preferred result were re-counted to also express a statistical-only "traditional" two-party-preferred result. As of 2022, the biggest voting blocs of the Coalition are men , the Greatest Generation (people born between 1901–1927), the middle class (as opposed to the working class ), who make between A$ 45,001– A$ 80,000 per year, and have

4585-412: The 2011 state election in a massive swing under Barry O'Farrell , the 2015 election with a reduced majority under Mike Baird , and the 2019 election under Gladys Berejiklian. The Coalition led by Dominic Perrottet lost the 2023 state election and is in opposition since. New South Wales is the only state where the non-Labor Coalition has never broken, and yet has also never merged. This remained

4716-703: The Centre Party , which held the balance of power in that year's state election . It threw its support to the Liberals, and Lyons – the Centre Party's lone MHA – became Deputy Premier. The Liberal–Centre alliance fell apart in 1972, forcing an early election . In 1975, what remained of the Centre Party became the Tasmanian chapter of what was by now the National Country Party before fading away completely. A Tasmanian National Party branch

4847-663: The Liberal (and predecessors) and National parties has existed without interruption in New South Wales since 1927. Predecessors of the NSW Liberal Party, including the UAP, Nationalist Party and the Democratic Party , maintained a coalition with the Country Party (old name of National Party). The Liberal Party is led by Mark Speakman and the National Party by Dugald Saunders . The Coalition won

4978-491: The Liberal National Party (LNP), under the leadership of former National Lawrence Springborg . Although it is dominated by former Nationals, it has full voting rights within the Liberal Party and observer status within the National Party. Springborg stood down in 2009, and was succeeded by former Liberal John-Paul Langbroek . The LNP won an overwhelming majority government in the 2012 state election under

5109-459: The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP). LNP and CLP members elected to federal parliament do not form separate parliamentary parties, joining either the Liberals or Nationals. In South Australia , Tasmania and the ACT, the Nationals have no sitting MPs and little or no organisational presence. The origins of the Coalition date back to the 1922 federal election , when the Nationalist Party ,

5240-502: The Netherlands ( fractie ); Poland ( klub ), Switzerland ( fraction / Fraktion / frazione ); Romania ( grup parlamentar ); and Russia ( фракция/fraktsiya ), Spain ('grupo parlamentario'), and Ukraine ( фракція/fraktsiya ). Generally, parliamentary groups have some independence from the wider party organisations. It is often thought improper for elected MPs to take instructions solely from non-elected party officials or from

5371-499: The Parliamentary Friendship Groups , also called Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups , Friendship Parliamentary Groups , or Parliamentary Group of Friendship [and Cooperation] . "Parliamentary Friendship" groups are groups of congresspeople/members of parliament who voluntarily organise themselves to promote parliamentary relations between their own Parliament and another country's (or even

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5502-515: The United Kingdom Parliament there exist associations of MPs called "all-party parliamentary groups", which bring together members of different parliamentary groups who wish to involve themselves with a particular subject. This term is in a sense the opposite of the term 'parliamentary group', which designates a group that includes only members of the same party or electoral fusion. One special kind of parliamentary groups are

5633-506: The by-election . The by-election was triggered by the resignation of incumbent Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull , who was ousted as Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader during a spill motion earlier in August 2018. The coalition formed majority government again following the 2019 federal election . In the 2022 Australian federal election , the Coalition lost to the Labor Party and returned to opposition. In March 1973, former Prime Minister William McMahon publicly announced his support for

5764-487: The "wave of agrarian socialist parties set up around the Western world in the 1920s". Federally (and to various extents, in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), the Nationals have been the minor party in centre-right Coalition governments with the Liberal Party ; its federal leader usually serves as Deputy Prime Minister by convention. In Opposition the Coalition was usually maintained, but even otherwise

5895-946: The 1937 election), the party did not elect another Senate leader until 1949 – apparently due to its small number of senators. Unlike the leader in the House of Representatives, the Senate leader has not always been a member of the ministry or shadow ministry at all times. For the 2015–2016 financial year, the top ten disclosed donors to the National Party were: Manildra Group ($ 182,000), Ognis Pty Ltd ($ 100,000), Trepang Services ($ 70,000), Northwake Pty Ltd ($ 65,000), Hancock Prospecting ($ 58,000), Bindaree Beef ($ 50,000), Mowburn Nominees ($ 50,000), Retail Guild of Australia ($ 48,000), CropLife International ($ 43,000) and Macquarie Group ($ 38,000). The National Party also receives undisclosed funding through several methods, such as "associated entities". John McEwen House, Pilliwinks and Doogary are entities which have been used to funnel donations to

6026-586: The ALP that previously belonged to the Coalition will sit with the previous member's party. An amicable division of seats was decided upon for new seats or seats that have never been won by the Coalition. In practice, all LNP MPs from Brisbane and most LNP MPs from the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast sit with the Liberals, while those from rural seats usually sit with the Nationals. The state branch of

6157-472: The Coalition agreement was renewed in 2008 and the Victorian Liberal and National parties went into the 2010 election as a Coalition. The Coalition ended up winning the 2010 election with a one-seat margin under the leadership of Ted Baillieu , who resigned in 2013 and was succeeded by Denis Napthine . The Coalition lost power at the 2014 election . The Coalition arrangement was maintained while

6288-414: The Coalition over Labor, due to a perception that Liberal Party was more business-oriented than Labor. However, this has declined in recent years. In the 2022 Australian federal election , electorates with a higher concentration of Chinese-Australian voters experienced larger swings against the Coalition compared to other electorates; in the top 15 seats by Chinese ancestry, the swing against the Coalition on

6419-440: The Coalition was plunged into minority government for the first time in its history. Archie Cameron was an immediate victim of the election result, being replaced by Arthur Fadden and later defecting to the UAP. Menzies increasingly struggled to balance his management of Australia's war effort with domestic concerns, and his party began to rebel against him. However, the UAP was bereft of leadership despite having been in power for

6550-523: The Country Party merged with the Liberal Federation , the state branch of the UAP, in 1932 to form the Liberal and Country League . It later became the state division of the Liberal Party when the latter was formed in 1945. A separate Country Party (later Nationals SA ) was revived in 1963, though the main non-Labor party in South Australia continued to use the LCL name until it was also renamed to

6681-569: The Country Party and the National Country Party). Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system . The Coalition was last in government from 2013 to 2022. The group is led by Peter Dutton , who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 federal election . The two parties in the Coalition have different geographical voter bases , with

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6812-422: The Country Party leader ranking second in Coalition cabinets. Page remained dominant in the party until 1939, and briefly served as caretaker prime minister between the death of Joseph Lyons and the election of Robert Menzies as his successor. However, Page gave up the leadership rather than serve under Menzies. The coalition was re-formed under Archie Cameron in 1940, and continued until October 1941 despite

6943-486: The Country Party was losing ground electorally to the Liberals as the rural population declined, and the nature of some parliamentary seats on the urban/rural fringe changed. A proposed merger with the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) under the banner of "National Alliance" was rejected when it failed to find favour with voters at the 1974 state election . Also in 1974, the Northern Territory members of

7074-561: The Government of their own country, or even for the whole of the Parliament/Congress to which they belong, as they are usually self-regulating and self-fulfilling. Parliamentary Friendship Groups are active in the national congresses/parliaments of countries such as Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Israel, Laos, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, and

7205-520: The Labor Party in the form of the Curtin government . After the demise of the Fadden government, the Coalition voted to continue on under his leadership in opposition. Menzies had opposed this, and resigned as UAP leader, to be replaced by the ageing Billy Hughes . Up until the 1943 election , the Coalition effectively operated as a single unit, with separate party meetings being extremely rare. However,

7336-411: The Labor Party, we aren't in coalition with the Liberals, we are definitely not in coalition with anyone. We stand alone in South Australia as an independent party." Flinders University political scientist Haydon Manning disagreed, saying that it is "churlish to describe the government as anything but a coalition". The party did not run candidates at the 2010 federal election , but ran one candidate in

7467-544: The Liberal Party in 1974. The revived SA Nationals have never been successful in South Australia, due to the state's highly centralised population (some three-quarters of the population lives in Adelaide ) and the Liberals' strong support in rural areas that would tilt National in most of the rest of Australia. The party's current incarnation has only elected two representatives: Peter Blacker from 1973 to 1993, and Karlene Maywald from 1997 to 2010. From 2004 to 2010, Maywald

7598-416: The Liberal Party's predecessors, the United Australia Party and Nationalist Party , and similar parties at state level. The first such federal arrangement was formed in 1923, as a solution to the hung parliament that resulted from the 1922 federal election . The Liberals and Nationals maintain separate organisational wings and separate parliamentary parties , but co-operate in various ways determined by

7729-431: The Liberal Party, which weakened the party's ability to present a separate image to rural and regional Australia. In 2001 the National Party recorded its second-worst result at 5.6% winning 13 seats, and its third lowest at 5.9% at the 2004 election, winning only 12 seats. Australian psephologist Antony Green argues that two important trends have driven the National Party's decline at a federal level: "the importance of

7860-434: The Liberal Party. However no merger took place outside of Queensland. Coalition arrangements are facilitated by Australia's preferential voting systems which enable Liberals and Nationals to compete locally in " three-cornered-contests ", with the Australian Labor Party (ALP), while exchanging preferences in elections. Such contests would weaken their prospects under first-past-the-post voting . From time to time, friction

7991-528: The Liberal and National parties to compete and co-operate at the same time. By contrast, a variation of the preferential system known as optional preferential voting has proven a significant handicap to coalition co-operation in Queensland and New South Wales , because significant numbers of voters do not express all useful preferences. Due to a disciplined coalition between the parties and their predecessors being in existence for almost 100 years with only

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8122-451: The Liberals – the larger party – drawing most of their vote from urban areas and the Nationals operating almost exclusively in rural and regional areas. They occupy a broadly similar place on the right of the political spectrum . The partnership between the two current parties dates back to 1946, shortly after the Liberal Party was formed, and has continued almost uninterrupted since then. The Country Party also maintained similar alliances with

8253-506: The National Country Party of Australia as part of a strategy to expand into urban areas. This had some success in Queensland under Joh Bjelke-Petersen , but nowhere else. The party briefly walked out of the coalition agreement in Western Australia in May 1975, returning within the month. However, the party split in two over the decision and other factors in late 1978, with a new National Party forming and becoming independent, holding three seats in

8384-403: The National Party becomes the deputy prime minister during periods of Coalition government. The two parties co-operate on their federal election campaigns, run joint Senate tickets in most states, and generally avoid running candidates against each other in the House of Representatives . A merger of the Liberals and Nationals has been suggested on a number of occasions, but has never become

8515-602: The National Party leader and deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce was expecting a child with his former communications staffer Vikki Campion. Joyce resigned after revelations that he had been engaged in an extramarital affair. Later in the same year it was revealed that the NSW National party and its youth wing, the Young Nationals had been infiltrated by neo-Nazis with more than 30 members being investigated for alleged links to neo-Nazism . Leader McCormack denounced

8646-516: The National and Liberal parties at a state level in order to present a more effective opposition to the Labor Party. Previously this plan had been dismissed by the Queensland branch of the Liberal party, but the idea received in-principle support from the Liberals. Federal leader Mark Vaile stated the Nationals will not merge with the Liberal Party at a federal level. The plan was opposed by key Queensland Senators Ron Boswell and Barnaby Joyce , and

8777-523: The Nationalist Prime Minister, Billy Hughes . Indeed, the Country Party had been formed in part due to discontent with Hughes' rural policy. Page not only let it be known that he would not serve under Hughes, but demanded Hughes' resignation before he would even consider coalition talks. Hughes resigned, and Page then entered negotiations with the new Nationalist leader, Stanley Bruce . The Country Party's terms were unusually stiff for

8908-415: The Nationalists an overall majority. It soon became apparent that the price for Country support would be a full-fledged coalition with the Nationalists. However, Page let it be known that his party would not serve under Hughes, and forced his resignation. Page then entered negotiations with the Nationalists' new leader, Stanley Bruce , for a coalition government. Page wanted five seats for his Country Party in

9039-454: The Nationals, while the LNP's four other senators sit with the Liberals. The highest-profile LNP MP of the 2010s was former federal Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss . The LNP has an informal agreement with its federal counterparts as to which party room in which LNP members will sit. Incumbent MPs retain their previous federal affiliations, whereas members who win seats from

9170-639: The Nationals. However, Barnett would have likely had to keep the Nationals in his government in any event. According to the ABC's Antony Green , the rural weighting in the Legislative Council all but forces the WA Liberals to depend on National support even when the Liberals have enough support to govern alone. The Barnett government was heavily defeated at the 2017 state election , and the two parties went their separate ways with Liberal Party being

9301-573: The Parliaments of New South Wales , Queensland and Victoria , many of whom are former members of the National Party. In fact since the 2004 Federal election , National Party candidates have received fewer first preference votes than the Australian Greens . Demographic changes are not helping, with fewer people living and employed on the land or in small towns, the continued growth of the larger provincial centres, and, in some cases,

9432-415: The Senate and not beholden to the dictates of [...] a party Senate leader". On 3 October 1935, Charles Hardy was elected as Carroll's replacement and began using the title "Leader of the Country Party in the Senate". This usage was disputed by Carroll and Bertie Johnston , but a subsequent party meeting on 10 October confirmed Hardy's position. However, after Hardy's term ended in 1938 (due to his defeat at

9563-574: The UAP into the Liberal Party of Australia in 1944. Fadden remained a loyal partner of Menzies, though he was still keen to assert the independence of his party. Indeed, in the lead up to the 1949 federal election , Fadden played a key role in the defeat of the Chifley Labor government, frequently making inflammatory claims about the "socialist" nature of the Labor Party, which Menzies could then "clarify" or repudiate as he saw fit, thus appearing more "moderate". In 1949, Fadden became Treasurer in

9694-737: The United States, among many others. National Party of Australia Defunct Defunct The National Party of Australia , commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats , is a centre-right and agrarian political party in Australia . Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and rural voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a federal level . In 1975, it adopted

9825-625: The Western Australian lower house, while the National Country Party remained in coalition and also held three seats. They reconciled after the Burke Labor government came to power in 1983. The 1980s were dominated by the feud between Bjelke-Petersen and the federal party leadership. Bjelke-Petersen briefly triumphed in 1987, forcing the Nationals to tear up the Coalition agreement and support his bid to become prime minister. The " Joh for Canberra " campaign backfired spectacularly when

9956-520: The arrival of left-leaning "city refugees" in rural areas. The Liberals have also gained support as the differences between the coalition partners on a federal level have become invisible. This was highlighted in January 2006, when Nationals Senator Julian McGauran defected to the Liberals, saying that there was "no longer any real distinguishing policy or philosophical difference". In Queensland, Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg advocated merger of

10087-593: The capital cities. However, there are regions of capital cities that do still vote for the Coalition; such as the Hills District and Sutherland and most of the Eastern Suburbs and Northern Suburbs of Sydney; some areas of Melbourne 's east and northeast; many areas of Brisbane and Perth ; and the southern part of Darwin . The Coalition has below-average support among Indian and Muslim voters. Historically, Chinese Australians have voted for

10218-405: The case even in 2011, when the Liberals won a majority in their own right but still retained the Coalition. On 10 September 2020, the Nationals threatened to move to the crossbench over a dispute regarding koala protection laws, but the issue was resolved the next day and the Nationals remained in the Coalition. Due to Brisbane having a much smaller share of Queensland 's population compared to

10349-475: The creation of the office in 1968. The National Party's support base and membership are closely associated with the agricultural community. Historically anti-union, the party has vacillated between state support for primary industries (" agrarian socialism ") and free agricultural trade and has opposed tariff protection for Australia's manufacturing and service industries. It is usually in favor of industrial development, opposing green politics. "Countrymindedness"

10480-451: The death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons in April 1939, Page was appointed as his successor on an interim basis, pending the new election of a new UAP leader . Despite Page's misgivings, the UAP elected Robert Menzies – who was known to dislike the Country Party. Page subsequently made a vitriolic speech in parliament attacking Menzies's character, and withdrew his party from the coalition –

10611-489: The deputy leader of the Liberal Party, stated his tentative support for a merger, but noted that it could not be led by politicians and should come from the grassroots. In the wake of their 2007 federal election loss, there was again talk of a merger in 2007 and 2008, as a result of a shrinking National Party vote. It was argued that the decline in the National vote is linked to a declining rural population, and National Party policies have become increasingly similar to those of

10742-415: The election of Arthur Fadden as leader after the 1940 election. Fadden was well regarded within conservative circles and proved to be a loyal deputy to Menzies in the difficult circumstances of 1941. When Menzies was forced to resign as prime minister, the UAP was so bereft of leadership that Fadden briefly succeeded him (despite the Country Party being the junior partner in the governing coalition). However,

10873-429: The floor to join the Nationals. The Nationals then governed in their own right until 1989 . The Coalition was renewed in 1991, and won power under Rob Borbidge from 1996 to 1998 . The Queensland Liberals and Nationals had contested separately for the Senate in federal elections until the 2007 election , when they ran a join Senate ticket for the first time in 30 years. In 2008, the two parties agreed to merge, forming

11004-564: The formation of parliamentary groups like Centre-right coalition and Centre-left coalition . In the Swiss Federal Assembly , at least five members are required to form a parliamentary group. The most important task is to delegate members to the commissions. The parliamentary groups are decisive in Swiss Federal Assembly and not the political parties, which are not mentioned in the parliamentary law. In

11135-541: The formation of parliamentary groups running in elections. The parliamentary groups of the European Parliament must consist of no less than 25 MEPs from seven different EU member states . No party discipline is required. Parliamentary groups gain financial support and can join committees. Hungarian mixed-member majoritarian representation rewards the formation of parliamentary groups, like United for Hungary . Italian parallel voting system rewards

11266-450: The graziers who operated the sheep stations were politically conservative. They disliked the Labor Party, which represented their workers, and feared that Labor governments would pass unfavorable legislation and listen to foreigners and communists. The graziers were satisfied with the marketing organisation of their industry, opposed any change in land tenure and labour relations, and advocated lower tariffs, low freight rates, and low taxes. On

11397-638: The ideology into urban areas came as most country people migrated to jobs in the cities. Its decline was due mainly to the reduction of real and psychological differences between country and city brought about by the postwar expansion of the Australian urban population and to the increased affluence and technological changes that accompanied it. The Nationals vote is in decline and its traditional supporters are turning instead to prominent independents such as Bob Katter , Tony Windsor and Peter Andren in Federal Parliament and similar independents in

11528-486: The infiltration, and several suspected neo-Nazis were expelled from the party and its youth wing. At the 2019 Australian federal election , despite severe drought, perceived inaction over the plight of the Murray–Darling Basin, a poor performance in the New South Wales state election and sex scandals surrounding the member for Mallee, Andrew Broad and former party leader Barnaby Joyce, the National Party saw only

11659-405: The landslide defeat it suffered – under Fadden as opposition leader – led to an immediate change in strategy. The UAP voted to break off its ties with the Country Party in opposition, and re-elected Menzies as its leader. This is the most recent occasion on which the senior partner in the Coalition has opted to withdraw. The UAP was folded into the Liberal Party in 1945, with Menzies as leader. In

11790-415: The lead-up to the 1946 federal election , Menzies renewed the Coalition with the Country Party, which was still led by Fadden. They won the 1949 federal election as a Coalition, and stayed in office for a record 23 years. Since 1946, the Coalition has remained intact with two exceptions, both in opposition. The parties decided not to form a coalition opposition following their defeat in 1972 , but went into

11921-448: The leadership of Truss, the party received its lowest vote to date, at only 3.4%, however they secured a slight increase in seats from 10 to 12. At the following election in 2010 the national Party's fortunes improved slightly with a vote of 4.2% and an increase in seats from 12 to 15. At the 2016 double dissolution election, under the leadership of Barnaby Joyce the party secured 4.6% of the vote and 16 seats. In 2018, reports emerged that

12052-456: The leadership of former Liberal Campbell Newman , who had taken over from Langbroek a year earlier. However, it lost power in 2015 and remained in opposition for nearly a decade, returning to power in 2024. At the federal level, 15 LNP MPs sit with the Liberals, including federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton ; six sit with the Nationals, including federal Nationals leader David Littleproud . LNP Senators Matt Canavan Susan McDonald sit with

12183-476: The longest-tenured member of the government, with the informal right to veto government policy. The most significant instance in which McEwen exercised this right came when Holt disappeared in December 1967. John Gorton became the new Liberal Prime Minister in January 1968. McEwen was sworn in as interim prime minister pending the election of the new Liberal leader. Logically, the Liberals' deputy leader, William McMahon , should have succeeded Holt. However, McMahon

12314-399: The main middle-class non-Labor party of the time, lost the absolute majority it had held since its formation in 1917. The Nationalists could only stay in office with the support of the two-year-old Country Party . It soon became apparent that a confidence and supply agreement would not be enough to keep the Nationalists in office. However, Country Party leader Earle Page had never trusted

12445-535: The most recent occasion on which the coalition has been broken while in government. However, a number of Page's colleagues disagreed with his stance, and he resigned as leader in September 1939. He was replaced by Archie Cameron , and after months of negotiations the coalition was revived in March 1940, with five Country MPs joining the second Menzies ministry . After losing eight seats at the 1940 federal election ,

12576-493: The name National Country Party , before taking its current name in 1982. Ensuring support for farmers, either through government grants and subsidies or through community appeals, is a major focus of National Party policy. The process for obtaining these funds has come into question in recent years, such as during the Sports Rorts Affair . According to Ian McAllister , the Nationals are the only remaining party from

12707-532: The other hand, Graham reports, the small farmers, not the graziers, founded the Country party. The farmers advocated government intervention in the market through price support schemes and marketing pools. The graziers often politically and financially supported the Country party, which in turn made the Country party more conservative. The Country Party's first election as a united party, in 1922 , saw it in an unexpected position of power. It won enough seats to deny

12838-419: The other state capitals, Queensland is the only state in which the Nationals were consistently the stronger non-Labor party. The Nationals were the senior partner in the non-Labor Coalition from 1925 until the Coalition was broken in 1983. At an election held two months later , the Nationals under Joh Bjelke-Petersen came up one seat short of a majority, but later gained a majority when two Liberal MLAs crossed

12969-424: The parliamentary and organisational leadership will be held by the same person or people, whether ex officio or not; other parties maintain a sharp distinction between the two offices. Nevertheless, in almost all cases, the parliamentary leader is the public face of the party, and wields considerable influence within the organisational wing, whether or not they hold any official position there. A parliamentary group

13100-415: The party is not represented in the legislature for the time being, the leader will often be put forward at a general election as the party's candidate for their most winnable seat. In some parties, the leader is elected solely by the members of the parliamentary group; in others, some or all members of the wider party participate in the election. Parliamentary groups often have one or more whips , whose role

13231-515: The party joined with its Liberal party members to form the independent Country Liberal Party . This party continues to represent both parent parties in that territory. A separate party, the Joh-inspired NT Nationals, competed in the 1987 election with former Chief Minister Ian Tuxworth winning his seat of Barkly by a small margin. However, this splinter group was not endorsed by the national executive and soon disappeared from

13362-439: The party still generally continued to work in co-operation with the Liberals (as had their predecessors the Nationalist Party and United Australia Party ). Due to the closeness and integration of the two parties, as well as the declining vote of the Nationals in recent years, it has been proposed several times that the Liberals and the Nationals formally merge . In Queensland, for instance, the Country Party (later National Party)

13493-486: The political scene. The National Party was confronted by the impact of demographic shifts from the 1970s: between 1971 and 1996, the population of Sydney and surrounds grew by 34%, with even larger growth in coastal New South Wales, while more remote rural areas grew by a mere 13%, further diminishing the National Party's base. At the federal convention held on 2 May 1975 in Canberra, the Country Party changed its name to

13624-435: The principles of the new party, stating "we crave no alliance, we spurn no support but we intend drastic action to secure closer attention to the needs of primary producers" McWilliams was deposed as party leader in favour of Earle Page in April 1921, following instances where McWilliams voted against the party line. McWilliams later left the Country Party to sit as an Independent. According to historian B. D. Graham (1959),

13755-429: The rural sector to the health of the nation's economy" and "the growing chasm between the values and attitudes of rural and urban Australia". Green has suggested that the result has been that "Both have resulted in rural and regional voters demanding more of the National Party, at exactly the time when its political influence has declined. While the National Party has never been the sole representative of rural Australia, it

13886-457: The seat of Barker and two for the Senate at the 2013 election . The Nationals candidate for Barker and several other Coalition figures assured electors that any Nationals elected from South Australia would be part of the Coalition, after comments from the Liberal candidate to the contrary. The National Party has never done well in Tasmania , even though its first leader, William McWilliams ,

14017-502: The second Menzies government and remained so until his retirement in 1958. His successful partnership with Menzies was one of the elements that sustained the coalition, which remained in office until 1972 (Menzies himself retired in 1966). Fadden's successor, Trade Minister John McEwen , took the then unusual step of declining to serve as Treasurer, believing he could better ensure that the interests of Australian primary producers were safeguarded. Accordingly, McEwen personally supervised

14148-410: The senior party and the Liberal Party being the junior party in the alliance. Shadow ministerial positions were also held by parliamentary members of both parties. This was similar to the agreements between both parties when they were in government following the 2008 and 2013 elections. Similar to the 2008 and 2013 agreements, the deputy leader of the senior party, Nationals deputy leader Shane Love ,

14279-464: The signing of the first post-war trade treaty with Japan, new trade agreements with New Zealand and Britain, and Australia's first trade agreement with the USSR (1965). In addition to this, he insisted on developing an all-encompassing system of tariff protection that would encourage the development of those secondary industries that would "value add" Australia's primary produce. His success in this endeavour

14410-449: The small subset of the electorate represented by party members. In any case, the exigencies of government, the need to cooperate with other members of the legislature and the desire to retain the support of the electorate as a whole often preclude strict adherence to the wider party's wishes. The exact relationship between the parliamentary party and the party varies between countries, and also from party to party. For example, in some parties,

14541-409: The sole opposition party. In the 2021 election , the Liberal Party ended up winning fewer seats than the National Party, headed by Mia Davies , with the National Party gaining opposition status and Davies becoming the first Nationals opposition leader since 1947 . Following the election, the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition, with National Party being

14672-535: The state level, from 1957 to 1989, the Country Party under Frank Nicklin and Joh Bjelke-Petersen dominated governments in Queensland —for the last six of those years ruling in its own right, without the Liberals. This was due to the bjelkemander , a malapportionment in electorates which gave rural voters twice the voting power compared to voters within the city. It also took part in governments in New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia. However, successive electoral redistributions after 1964 indicated that

14803-475: The two independents who had been propping up the government rejected Fadden's budget and brought the government down. Fadden stood down in favour of Labor leader John Curtin . The Fadden-led Coalition made almost no headway against Curtin, and was severely defeated in the 1943 election . After that loss, Fadden became deputy Leader of the Opposition under Menzies, a role that continued after Menzies folded

14934-622: The two parties were in opposition. According to The Age, between November 2018 and November 2021, the Coalition's Legislative Council members voted with the Andrews Government's position 28.9% of the time; of the parties in the Legislative Council, only the Liberal Democratic Party had a lower figure (22.1%). The Country Party was the stronger coalition partner from the 1933 state election to

15065-670: The upper house would no longer necessarily vote with their Liberal counterparts in the upper house, which opened up another possible avenue for the Rudd Labor government to get legislation through. Joyce was elected leader in a party-room ballot on 11 February 2016, following the retirement of former leader and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss . Joyce was one of five politicians disqualified from parliament in October 2017 for holding dual citizenship , along with former deputy leader, Fiona Nash . The 1987 Australian federal election

15196-399: The vote and securing only 10 seats. Vaile announced his resignation as party leader which surprised his colleagues, as he had been expected to be re-elected unopposed following the election. He had planned the party leadership to go to Peter McGauran but the latter declined to stand. Warren Truss and Nigel Scullion were then elected unopposed as leader and deputy leader. In 2010, under

15327-753: The votes of their members. Parliamentary groups correspond to " caucuses " in the United States Congress and the Parliament of Canada . A parliamentary group is sometimes called the parliamentary wing of a party, as distinct from its organizational wing . Equivalent terms are used in different countries, including: Argentina ( bloque and interbloque ), Australia (party room); Austria ( Klub ); Belgium ( fractie / fraction / Fraktion ); Brazil and Portugal ("grupo parlamentar" or, informally, "bancadas"); Germany ( Fraktion ); Italy ( gruppo ), Finland (eduskuntaryhmä/ riksdagsgrupp );

15458-464: Was a Minister in the Rann Labor government, before losing her seat at the 2010 South Australian state election, thereby informally creating a Labor-National coalition in South Australia. The National Party, at the time, rejected the notion that it was in a coalition with Labor at the state level. State National Party President John Venus told journalists, "We (The Nationals) are not in coalition with

15589-529: Was a Tasmanian. It has elected only two other lower house members. A Tasmania branch of the then-Country Party was formed in 1922 and briefly held the balance of power, but merged with the Nationalists in 1924. It was refounded in 1962, but never gained much ground. In 1969, Liberal MHA Kevin Lyons , the son of former Prime Minister Lyons, pulled together most of the Tasmanian Country Party into

15720-416: Was a slogan that summed up the ideology of the Country Party from 1920 through the early 1970s. It was an ideology that was physiocratic , populist , and decentralist; it fostered rural solidarity and justified demands for government subsidies. "Countrymindedness" grew out of the failure of the country areas to participate in the rapid economic and population expansions that occurred after 1890. The growth of

15851-473: Was a staunch free-trader, and there were also rumours that he was homosexual. As a result, McEwen told the Liberals that he and his party would not serve under McMahon. McMahon stood down in favour of John Gorton . It was only after McEwen announced his retirement that MacMahon was able to successfully challenge Gorton for the Liberal leadership. McEwen's reputation for political toughness led to him being nicknamed "Black Jack" by his allies and enemies alike. At

15982-587: Was briefly revived in the 1990s before it too disappeared, leaving the Liberal Party as the sole major non-Labor party in the state. In 2018, Senator Steve Martin , formerly of the Jacqui Lambie Network , joined the Nationals, becoming the party's first federal member from Tasmania in either chamber in 90 years. However, Martin lost his bid for a new term. A Coalition between the Liberal and National parties exists in Victoria . The Liberal Party

16113-462: Was broken when the Liberal leader and Premier Thomas Hollway sacked Country leader John McDonald as Deputy Premier. In March 1949, the Liberals renamed themselves the Liberal and Country Party as part of an effort to merge the two non-Labor parties in Victoria. However, McDonald saw this as an attempted Liberal takeover of the Country Party, and the Country Party turned the proposed merger down. As

16244-470: Was elected as the WA Nationals candidate for the seat of O'Connor at the 2010 federal election . Although some reports initially counted Crook as a National MP, and thus part of the Coalition, Crook sat as a crossbencher . The Liberals won enough seats for a majority in their own right in the 2013 state election , but Barnett had announced before the election that he would retain the coalition with

16375-466: Was founded in July 2008. The Country Party's first senators began their terms in 1926, but the party had no official leader in the upper chamber until 1935. Instead, the party nominated a "representative" or "liaison officer" where necessary – usually William Carroll . This was so that its members "were first and foremost representatives of their states, able to enjoy complete freedom of action and speech in

16506-511: Was in Coalition with the Liberal Party government from 1993 to 2001 (see Hendy Cowan ), but the Coalition was subsequently broken. In 2008, the Liberals under Colin Barnett , the Nationals under Brendon Grylls , and independent John Bowler formed a minority government after the 2008 election . However, it was not characterised as a "traditional coalition", with limited cabinet collective responsibility for National cabinet members. Tony Crook

16637-414: Was scuttled in 2006. After suffering defeat in the 2006 Queensland poll, Lawrence Springborg was replaced by Jeff Seeney , who indicated he was not interested in merging with the Liberal Party until the issue is seriously raised at a Federal level. In September 2008, Joyce replaced CLP Senator and Nationals deputy leader Nigel Scullion as leader of the Nationals in the Senate, and stated that his party in

16768-464: Was the deputy opposition leader, instead of the leader of the junior party, Liberal Party leader David Honey . Under the alliance, each party maintained their independence, and could speak out on issues when there was a disagreement with their partner. Parliamentary group Parliamentary groups may elect a parliamentary leader ; such leaders are often important political players. Parliamentary groups in some cases use party discipline to control

16899-428: Was the last time the National party received over 10% of the vote and the 2007 Australian federal election was the last time the National party received over 5% of the vote for the House of Representatives. Merger plans came to a head in May 2008, when the Queensland state Liberal Party gave an announcement not to wait for a federal blueprint but instead to merge immediately. The new party, the Liberal National Party ,

17030-448: Was the only realistic course. Regrettably, there are still too many who don't want to read it and who don't want to face reality, that the role of a specialist party looking after the needs of rural people is in decline." Nationals leader Ian Sinclair publicly rejected calls for a merger, citing the incompatibility of the National Party's conservatism and the "small-l liberal" wing of the Liberal Party. In July 1989, Senator Fred Chaney ,

17161-436: Was the senior coalition party between 1925 and 2008, after which it merged with the junior Liberal Party to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland . The current leader of the National Party is David Littleproud , who represents the Queensland electorate of Maranoa . He replaced Barnaby Joyce following a leadership spill in May 2022, after the Coalition's defeat in the 2022 federal election . The party's deputy leader

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