Australian Country Party (1920)
|
National Party of Australia
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Barnaby Joyce |
| President | Larry Anthony |
| Deputy Leader | Fiona Nash |
| Founded | 20 January 1920 (as the Country Party) |
| Headquarters | John McEwen House 7 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 |
| Youth wing | Young Nationals |
| National affiliation | Liberal/National Coalition |
| Colours |
Green and Yellow |
| House of Representatives |
10 / 150
|
| Senate |
3 / 76
|
| Website | |
| http://www.nationals.org.au/ | |
|
State Lower House Seats
|
|
|---|---|
| NSW Parliament |
16 / 93
|
| VIC Parliament |
8 / 88
|
| QLD Parliament |
41 / 89
|
| WA Parliament |
7 / 59
|
The National Party of Australia (also known as The Nationals or simply, The Nats) is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and rural voters generally, it began as the Country Party in 1920 at a federal level. It would later briefly adopt the name National Country Party in 1975, before adopting their current name in 1982.
Federally, and in New South Wales, and to an extent in Victoria and historically in Western Australia, it has, in government, been the minor party in a centre-right Coalition with the Liberal Party of Australia, and its leader has usually served as Deputy Prime Minister. In Opposition the Coalition was usually maintained, but otherwise still generally continued to work in co-operation with the Liberal Party of Australia (and their predecessors the Nationalist Party of Australia and United Australia Party). In Queensland however, they were the senior coalition party between 1925 and 2008, after which they merged with the junior Liberal Party of Australia to form the Liberal National Party (LNP).
The current federal leader and Deputy Prime Minister is Barnaby Joyce, with Fiona Nash as the current federal deputy leader. Both were elected in a party-room ballot on 11 February 2016, following the retirement of former leader and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and the elevation of former deputy leader Joyce.
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 Party 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.
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