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95-506: Until the 1950 elections, it covered Perth's central business district and nearby environs, but moved at that point to the western and northern suburbs while still extending to include Perth itself. In 1963–1964, electoral changes to the Legislative Council, which abolished the 10 three-member seats and created 15 two-member seats in their place, resulted in the seat shrinking into the wealthy western suburbs region. Thereafter, it

190-631: 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,

285-648: 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

380-695: A coalition throughout the LCL's existence. The LCL in Western Australia was also different to the Liberal and Country League in South Australia, in which a merger between the conservative parties ( Liberal Federation and SA Country Party ) actually took place. At the time, the LCL was not affiliated with any party in Australia. However, its party constitution allowed LCL candidates elected to

475-542: 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

570-521: 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

665-480: 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

760-518: A majority in its own right, while the other independent, Edward Oldfield , joined the Labor Party. The Brand coalition government remained in power continuously until 1971, with the LCL remaining the senior coalition partner during that time. In 1968, after the election , the LCL renamed itself the Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division), bringing it in line with other Australian states, apart from South Australia. The party in

855-508: 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

950-424: 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

1045-515: 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

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1140-597: 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,

1235-515: A result of losing opposition status. However, on 19 April 2021, the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition, with Liberal Party being the junior party in the alliance, and parliamentary members of both parties holding shadow ministerial positions. This was similar to the agreements between both parties when they were in government following the 2008 and 2013 elections. Unlike traditional coalition agreements, Honey did not become deputy opposition leader, with

1330-409: 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

1425-637: 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

1520-549: 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

1615-543: 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

1710-404: 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

1805-556: 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

1900-546: 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

1995-403: The 1959 election, albeit narrowly. The LCL won a net 6 seats from Labor, with the coalition holding 25 of 50 seats and the Labor Party 23, the remaining 2 seats being won by Independents. However, the LCL still had a clear lead over the Country Party, with 17 seat to 8. The coalition formed a majority with the support of Independent Bill Grayden , who joined the LCL in 1960 to give the government

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2090-412: 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

2185-429: 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

2280-499: 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

2375-412: 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

2470-425: The 2022 federal election . The two parties in the Coalition have different geographical voter bases , with 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

2565-703: 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

2660-609: 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

2755-491: 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

2850-459: 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 ,

2945-685: The Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia (the latter previously known as 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

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3040-552: The Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division) , is the division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Western Australia . Founded in March 1949 as the Liberal and Country League of Western Australia (LCL), it simplified its name to the Liberal Party in 1968. There was a previous Western Australian division of the Liberal Party when the Liberal Party was formed in 1945, but it ceased to exist and merged into

3135-518: The Nationalist Party name even after the formation of the federal United Australia Party in 1931. After Mitchell's government was defeated at the 1933 election , the Nationalists had fewer seats than the Country Party and so became the junior partner in a conservative Coalition opposing the Labor government. That remained the case until 1947 . On 27 November 1944, a special conference of

3230-507: 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

3325-481: The federal parliament to choose to be a member of the federal Liberal Party or Country Party. In the December 1949 federal election , the LCL and CDL agreed to campaign together as a united front against Labor, with a joint Senate team and a full exchange of preferences in three seats where each party had candidates. The federal Liberal/Country coalition led by Robert Menzies won the election, winning 5 out of

3420-413: The 1970s was marked by political and economic change, with the party grappling with shifting public attitudes towards government intervention, social policy and environmental issues. In 1974, the party won a landslide victory in the state election, under the leadership of Sir Charles Court . During his eight-year tenure as premier, Court oversaw major economic reforms and infrastructure projects, including

3515-431: The 8 lower house seats in Western Australia. At the 1950 state election , the LCL made further gains from its coalition partner , taking another seat from the Country Party (already renamed from CDL) to take its total to 15. The Country Party lost 2 other seats to finish with a total of 9. However, the coalition was not able to form a majority in its own right, and still required the support of independents. The coalition

3610-587: 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

3705-555: The CDL. On 30 March 1949, local branches of the Liberal Party and CDL met together in Beverley and formed the Liberal and Country League of Western Australia (LCL), in opposition to the merger decisions of their parent parties. About a month later, on 3 May 1949, the Liberal Party saw merit in the new organisation, dissolved itself and merged into the new organisation, in the hope to unite "all anti-socialist forces in Western Australia". Mann and his breakaway CDL faction also joined

3800-473: 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

3895-583: The Coalition on 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

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3990-399: 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

4085-440: 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

4180-475: 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

4275-459: The Country and Democratic League (CDL) and retained a significant amount of support at the 1947 election, winning 16.2% of the vote and 12 seats (up 2 from 1943 ). With difference in the number of seats held by the two coalition parties being so narrow, the Liberal Party sought to gain a larger number to ensure that it remained the senior coalition partner. This was made easier by the defection of

4370-455: The LCL in May 1949. The Liberal Party has held power in Western Australia for five separate periods in coalition with the National Party (previously the Country party), with the longest period between 1959 and 1971. The party was the sole opposition in the state from 2017 until the 2021 election , where the party lost eleven seats, thus losing opposition status to the National Party, marking

4465-520: 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,

4560-412: 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

4655-510: The Liberal Party and Mettam remained as deputy leader. This disastrous result left the Liberal Party with fewer seats than the National Party, who would become the official opposition, and it marked the first time the party had failed to form either a coalition government or opposition on its own. Under the Public Sector Management Act, the Liberal Party would not have qualified for important Parliamentary resources as

4750-479: The Liberal Party having won 13 seats and the Country Party 12 seats, the Liberals narrowly became the senior party of the coalition again, and the Liberal leader Ross McLarty became Premier . The Country Party had undergone significant structural change after the Primary Producers' Association decided in 1944 to cease funding the party, forcing it to set up its own support structure. It renamed itself

4845-546: 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

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4940-554: The Liberal Party was formed, and has continued almost uninterrupted since then. The Country Party also maintained similar alliances with 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

5035-435: 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

5130-528: 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

5225-531: The MLA for Beverley , James Mann , who left the Country Party to sit as an Independent, reducing the Country Party-held seats to 11. Wanting to follow the Liberal and Country League in South Australia, there had been intentions to merge the Liberal Party and CDL in Western Australia, and the idea was supported by many supporters of both parties. However, this was repeatedly refused by senior figures of

5320-517: The March 2021 election, winning only two seats in the Legislative Assembly and six seats in the Legislative Council. Harvey and Kirkup lost their seats, with Kirkup being the first major party leader to lose his seat in 88 years. The two lower house seats were retained by David Honey and deputy party leader Libby Mettam . Mettam became acting party leader but declined to run for party leadership. On 23 March 2021, Honey became leader of

5415-454: 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

5510-547: The National Party voted to co-operate in the formation of the new Liberal Party of Australia and nominated its parliamentary leader Ross McDonald and state president Jim Paton as delegates to the Albury conference. On 30 January 1945, McDonald announced that the parliamentary National Party would be known as the Liberal Party going forward. In 1944–45, the Nationalist Party renamed itself the Liberal Party, adopting

5605-523: 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

5700-454: 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

5795-641: 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

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5890-595: 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

5985-406: 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

6080-950: The corresponding Assembly districts were eligible to vote in the Council. Perth , East Perth , West Perth Perth , East Perth , North Perth , West Perth Perth , East Perth , North Perth , West Perth Claremont , Cottesloe , East Perth , Leederville , Nedlands , North Perth , Subiaco , Wembley Beaches , West Perth Claremont , Cottesloe , East Perth , Leederville , Mount Hawthorn , Nedlands , North Perth , Subiaco , Wembley Beaches , West Perth Balcatta , Claremont , Cottesloe , Karrinyup , Mount Hawthorn , Nedlands , Perth , Subiaco , Wembley Claremont , Cottesloe , Nedlands , Perth , Subiaco Cottesloe , Floreat , Nedlands , Perth , Subiaco Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division) The Western Australian Liberal Party , officially known as

6175-451: 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 –

6270-550: 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

6365-553: The development of the North-West Shelf gas project . However, Court's government was also marked by controversy, particularly in relation to its handling of environmental issues. The government's decision to allow mining and development in sensitive environmental areas attracted criticism from the Opposition. In the late 1970s, the Liberal Party faced increasing pressure from the emerging environmental movement, which

6460-408: The first time the party had failed to form either a coalition government or opposition on its own. Following the election, the Liberal Party and National Party formed an alliance opposition, with the Liberal Party being the junior party in the alliance, and each party maintaining their independence. Under the leadership of James Mitchell , the major non-Labor party in Western Australia had retained

6555-483: 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

6650-522: The influence of " The Clan ", a group of factional powerbrokers within the party. Coalition (Australia) 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

6745-405: 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

6840-415: 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

6935-608: The leadership of Richard Court , Sir Charles Court's son. Two leadership changes happened before the 2021 election . Mike Nahan resigned as party leader in June 2019, and was replaced by Liza Harvey unopposed, the first female leader of the WA Liberal Party. However, Harvey resigned a year later and was replaced by first-term MP Zak Kirkup in November 2020. The Liberal Party went on to suffer its worst ever defeat in

7030-456: 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

7125-399: 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

7220-483: 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 ,

7315-541: The new name chosen by the major conservative party federally and in most other states. Following 14 years in opposition, the Liberal/Country coalition narrowly defeated the Wise Labor government at the 1947 election , winning 25 seats to Labor's 23 in the 50 seat Legislative Assembly . The coalition strengthened its majority by gaining the support of Independent MPs Harry Shearn and William Read . With

7410-607: The new party, making the party numbers in the coalition 14-11 in favour of the LCL. The new organisation continued to desire a merger with the CDL, however, this never eventuated. Les Barrett-Lennard, the president of the CDL Beverley branch, was appointed as the provisional Chairman, and was officially appointed as the President of the LCL during the league's inaugural conference in July 1949. By June 1949, thousands throughout

7505-419: 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

7600-441: The position held by National Party deputy leader Shane Love instead. Under the alliance, each party maintained their independence, and could speak out on issues when there was a disagreement with their partner. In January 2023, Mettam announced she would challenge Honey for party leadership. On 30 January 2023, she was elected as leader unopposed after Honey pulled out of the contest. After election, Mettam said she would curtail

7695-458: 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 ,

7790-411: 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 ,

7885-410: 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

7980-512: The state have joined the new organisation. Earlier in March in Victoria, the Liberals had also unsuccessfully attempted a Liberal-Country merge by forming the Liberal and Country Party with six Victorian Country Party MPs. In both WA and Victoria, the state Country Party refused to join the new organisations. However, unlike in Victoria, the LCL and Country (CDL) parties in WA continued to run as

8075-552: 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

8170-464: 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

8265-529: 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

8360-595: Was a safe seat for the Liberal Party . In 1989, the province was abolished by the Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987 , and with two others became part of the North Metropolitan Region under the new proportional voting system. The province was made up of several complete Legislative Assembly districts , which changed at each distribution. It had a more restrictive franchise than the Legislative Assembly, however, so not all voters in

8455-589: 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

8550-409: 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

8645-560: Was concerned about the impact of industrialisation and development on the state's unique natural heritage. The party's response was mixed, with some members advocating for greater environmental protections, while others argued that economic development should take priority. In 1983, the party was defeated in the state election, with the Labor Party under Brian Burke coming to power. The Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division) would not regain government until 1993, under

8740-502: Was defeated by the Albert Hawke -led Labor Party at the 1953 election , but the LCL remained the senior coalition partner, retaining 15 seats to the Country Party's 9. The Hawke government was elected to second term in 1956 , winning a larger majority and reducing the coalition to 19 seats (11 LCL and 8 CP). Ross McLarty retired as LCL leader in 1957 and was replaced by David Brand . The LCL-CP coalition returned to government at

8835-471: 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

8930-512: 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

9025-450: 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 ,

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