The Nationals (Australia)

Home > History > Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific > Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands History

National Party of Australia Its roots date back to 1920, when a group of independent members representing farming interests in the House of Representatives, against a shifting social, economic, and political emphasis towards town and industry, combined to form the Country Party. It sought to advance rural concerns through pressing for improved rural infrastructure, greater financial assistance, and a policy of low tariffs and free trade. Under the able leadership of Page, it became a junior partner in a coalition with the Nationalist Party in 1923, and subsequently was indispensable to every conservative government at the national level (with the Nationalist Party 1923–9, United Australia Party 1934–9, 1940–1, Liberal Party 1949–72, 1975–83, 1996– ). Its electoral base was in northern New South Wales and in Queensland, where its party leader, Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (b. 1911), was Premier, 1968–87. It was renamed and reformed as the National Party in 1982, in an attempt to broaden its base beyond the declining rural population. In the late 1980s it was harmed by allegations and convictions of corruption, though in the 1996 it gained eighteen seats and returned to government. With sixteen seats from 1998 and thirteen seats from 2001, it continued to be the junior partner in a governmental coalition under John Howard.

http://www.nationalparty.org

National Party of Australia An Australian political party largely representing rural interests. Farmers' representatives were elected to colonial (later state) parliaments from the 1890s onwards. A number of farmers' candidates who had been elected to the Federal Parliament formed the Country Party of Australia in 1916. It has governed federally in coalition with the Nationalist Party (1923–29), the United Australia Party (1934–39; 1940–41), and the LIBERAL PARTY (1949–72; 1975–83). Several of its parliamentary leaders have been Prime Ministers, albeit briefly. They were Earle Page (1939), Arthur William Fadden (1941), and John McEwen (1967–68). It has also governed (under various names), mostly in coalition with other parties, for periods in most states. The party's national name was changed to the National Country Party in 1975 and to the National Party of Australia in 1982.