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Coalition (Australia)

The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP,[a] is an alliance of centre-right 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 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 the 2013 federal election, before being unsuccessful at re-election in the 2022 Australian federal election. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 Australian federal election.

The Coalition
Liberal–National Coalition
AbbreviationLNP[a]
LeaderPeter Dutton
Deputy LeaderDavid Littleproud
Founded1923; 1934; 1940
Merger of
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
Colors    Blue and green
Federal member parties
State/territory member partiesLiberal: National: Other:
House of Representatives
57 / 151
Senate
32 / 76
State/territory lower houses
161 / 455
State upper houses
50 / 155

The two parties in the Coalition have different 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 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 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 the National Party becomes the deputy prime minister during periods of conservative 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 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 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.

History

 
Political advertisement in The Bulletin promoting the Coalition at the 1943 federal election

The origins of the Coalition date back to the 1922 federal election, when the Nationalist Party, 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 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 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, 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 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 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 – 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, 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 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 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, 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 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 the 1974 federal election as a Coalition.[6] 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.[7]

The solidity of the Coalition is so strong that when the Liberals won parliamentary majorities in their own right in 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 the by-election.[8] 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.

Suggestions to merge

In March 1973, former Prime Minister William McMahon publicly announced his support for a merger.[9] 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.[10]

During the 1980s, former Nationals MP Peter Nixon reviewed the party and "concluded it should seriously consider amalgamating with the Liberals".[11] 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 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."[11] 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.[12]

In July 1989, Senator Fred Chaney, 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.[13]

In the wake of their 2007 federal election loss, there was again talk of a merger in 2007 and 2008,[11] as a result of a shrinking National Party vote.[14][15][16] 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 the Liberal Party.[17] However no merger took place outside of Queensland.

Electoral organisation

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 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 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 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.

Nomenclature

Due to a disciplined coalition between the parties and their predecessors being in existence for almost 100 years with only 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 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.[18]

Chronology

Period Alliance Member parties Elections
1923–1931 Nationalist–Country Coalition Nationalist NP 1925, 1928, 1929
Country CP
1934–1939; 1940–1943 United Australia–Country Coalition[b] United Australia UAP 1934, 1937, 1940, 1943
Country CP
1944–present Liberal–National Coalition[c] Liberal
Country Liberal
Liberal National
LPA 1946, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022
National
Country Liberal
Liberal National
NPA

Federal election results

House of Representatives

Election Leader Votes % Seats ± Status
1925 Stanley Bruce 1,551,760 53.20
51 / 75
  11 Majority Government
1928 1,286,208 49.56
42 / 75
  9 Majority Government
1929 1,271,619 44.17
24 / 75
  18 Opposition
1931 Joseph Lyons 1,533,627 48.35
50 / 75
  26 Majority Government (UAP Only)
1934 1,618,946 45.58
42 / 74
  8 Majority Government
1937 1,774,805 49.26
44 / 74
  2 Majority Government
1940 Robert Menzies 1,703,185 43.93
36 / 74
  8 Minority Government (1940–41)
Opposition (1941–43)
1943 Arthur Fadden 1,248,506 30.45
23 / 74
  13 Opposition
1946 Robert Menzies 1,706,387 39.28
26 / 76
  7 Opposition
1949 2,314,143 50.26
74 / 121
  48 Majority Government
1951 2,298,512 50.34
69 / 121
  5 Majority Government
1954 2,133,979 46.82
64 / 121
  5 Majority Government
1955 2,093,930 47.63
75 / 122
  11 Majority Government
1958 2,324,500 46.55
77 / 122
  2 Majority Government
1961 2,208,213 42.09
62 / 122
  15 Majority Government
1963 2,520,321 46.03
72 / 122
  10 Majority Government
1966 Harold Holt 2,853,890 49.98
82 / 124
  10 Majority Government
1969 John Gorton 2,649,219 43.33
66 / 125
  16 Majority Government
1972 William McMahon 2,737,911 41.48
58 / 125
  8 Opposition
1974 Billy Snedden 3,319,220 44.91
61 / 127
  3 Opposition (1974–75)
Caretaker Government (1975)
1975 Malcolm Fraser 4,102,078 53.05
91 / 127
  30 Majority Government
1977 3,811,340 48.10
86 / 124
  5 Majority Government
1980 3,853,549 46.40
74 / 125
  12 Majority Government
1983 3,783,595 43.57
50 / 125
  24 Opposition
1984 Andrew Peacock 3,872,707 44.69
66 / 148
  16 Opposition
1987 John Howard 4,236,238 45.91
62 / 148
  4 Opposition
1990 Andrew Peacock 4,302,127 43.46
69 / 148
  7 Opposition
1993 John Hewson 4,681,822 44.27
65 / 147
  4 Opposition
1996 John Howard 5,103,859 46.90
94 / 148
  29 Majority Government
1998 4,352,795 39.18
80 / 148
  14 Majority Government
2001 4,887,998 43.01
82 / 150
  2 Majority Government
2004 5,471,588 46.70
87 / 150
  5 Majority Government
2007 5,229,024 42.09
65 / 150
  22 Opposition
2010 Tony Abbott 5,365,529 43.32
72 / 150
  7 Opposition
2013 5,882,818 45.55
90 / 150
  18 Majority Government
2016 Malcolm Turnbull 5,693,605 42.15
76 / 150
  14 Majority Government
2019 Scott Morrison 5,906,860 41.44
77 / 151
  1 Majority Government
2022 5,233,334 35.70
58 / 151
  19 Opposition

States and territories

New South Wales

A Coalition between 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 Dominic Perrottet and the National Party by Paul Toole. The Coalition won 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.

New South Wales is the only state where the non-Labor Coalition has never broken, and yet has also never merged. This remained 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,[19] but the issue was resolved the next day and the Nationals remained in the Coalition.


Coalition Lower House Seats
(and endorsed parties)
NSW Parliament
45 / 93
Vic Parliament
27 / 88
QLD Parliament
34 / 93
WA Parliament
6 / 59
SA Parliament
16 / 47
Tas Parliament
13 / 25
ACT Parliament
9 / 25
NT Parliament
8 / 25


Coalition Upper House Seats
(and endorsed parties)
NSW Parliament
17 / 42
Vic Parliament
11 / 40
WA Parliament
13 / 36
SA Parliament
9 / 22
Tas Parliament
4 / 15

Queensland

Due to Brisbane having a much smaller share of Queensland's population compared to the other state capitals, Queensland is the only state in which the Nationals have consistently been 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 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.[20] In 2008, the two parties agreed to merge, forming 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 the leadership of former Liberal Campbell Newman, who had taken over from Langbroek a year earlier. However, it lost power in 2015, and Springborg returned to the leadership, only to lose a challenge by former Liberal Tim Nicholls in May 2016. Following another loss in the 2017 election, Nicholls stood down as LNP party leader and was succeeded by Deb Frecklington, who holds the ancestrally National seat of Nanango, Bjelke-Petersen's old seat.

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 Senator Matt Canavan sits with the Nationals, while the LNP's four other senators sit with the Liberals. The highest-profile LNP MP in recent years has been 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 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.[21] 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.

South Australia

The state branch of 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.[22] 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 the Liberal Party in 1974.[23][24] 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 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 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".[25] The party did not run candidates at the 2010 federal election, but ran one candidate in 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.[26]

Tasmania

The National Party has never done well in Tasmania, even though its first leader, William McWilliams, 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 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 was briefly revived in the 1990s before it too disappeared, leaving the Liberal Party as the sole major non-Labor party in the state.[27] 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.[28] However, Martin lost his bid for a new term.

Victoria

A Coalition between the Liberal and National parties exists in Victoria. The Liberal Party is led by John Pesutto and the National Party by Peter Walsh.[29]

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 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.[30] However, McDonald saw this as an attempted Liberal takeover of the Country Party,[31][32] and the Country Party turned the proposed merger down. As 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 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.[33] However, the Coalition agreement was renewed in 2008 and the Victorian Liberal and National parties went into the 2010 election as a Coalition.[34] 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 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%).[35]

Western Australia

The Country Party was the stronger coalition partner from the 1933 state election to 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 (Western Australia) was formed to attempt to merge Country Party (then called County Democratic League or CDL) and Liberal Party together.[36] This did not eventuate and the CDL did not join the new party.[37]

The National Party 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.[38] Tony Crook 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.[39]

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 the Nationals.[40] 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.[41] The Barnett government was heavily defeated at the 2017 state election, and the two parties went their separate ways with Liberal Party being 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.[42] Following the election, the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition, with National Party being 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.[43] Similar to the 2008 and 2013 agreements, the deputy leader of the senior party, Nationals deputy leader Shane Love, 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.[44][45]

Territories

  • Australian Capital Territory: The National Party is not affiliated in the Australian Capital Territory, leaving the Liberal Party as the sole major non-Labor party in the territory.
  • Northern Territory: The two parties' branches in the Northern Territory merged in 1974, forming the Country Liberal Party. The CLP governed the Territory from 1974 to 2001 and from 2012 to 2016. The CLP retains full voting rights within the federal National Party, and has observer status with the federal Liberal Party. The CLP directs its federal members of the House and Senate whether to sit with the federal Liberals or Nationals.[46] In practice, since the mid-1980s, CLP House members have sat with the Liberals while CLP Senators sit with the Nationals. For example, Natasha Griggs sat with the Liberals when she held the Darwin-area seat of Solomon from 2010 to 2016. CLP Senator Nigel Scullion was the leader of the Nationals in the Senate from 2007 to 2008, when he was succeeded by Barnaby Joyce. He was the federal deputy leader of the Nationals, alongside Truss, from 2007 to 2013. Joyce became federal Nationals deputy leader after his successful transition to the House of Representatives at the 2013 election, and Scullion returned as the Nationals Senate leader.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b The abbreviation “LNP” is used both for the federal Coalition[1][2][3] and for the Queensland-based branch of the alliance, the Liberal National Party.[4][5]
  2. ^ The coalition agreement between the United Australia and Country parties was often mentioned as the United Australia–United Country (UAP–UCP) coalition.
  3. ^ Between 1975–1982 the alliance was formally known as the Liberal–National Country Coalition as the latter party changed names from the Country Party to the National Country Party before changing its name again to the National Party.

References

  1. ^ "Political Parties". Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). 11 August 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  2. ^ "'The LNP are feeling threatened': the growing ambition of independents challenging Coalition MPs". Guardian Australia. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  3. ^ "How the Coalition vote is 'trending poor'". Australian Financial Review. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  4. ^ "LNP comfortably retains Queensland seat of Callide in by-election". ABC News. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  5. ^ Crockford, Toby (19 June 2022). "Queensland's youngest MP elected after LNP claims Callide byelection". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  6. ^ Paul Davey (2006). The Nationals: The Progressive, Country, and National Party in New South Wales 1919–2006. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9781862875265. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  7. ^ . The Nationals. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Morrison committed to making minority government work". SBS News. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Mr McMahon wanted merger". The Canberra Times. 13 March 1973.
  10. ^ "PARTY MERGER FAVOURED". The Canberra Times. 23 May 1974.
  11. ^ a b c Steketee, Mike (31 January 2008). . NEWS.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Sinclair douses suggested National-Liberal merger". The Canberra Times. 17 June 1985.
  13. ^ "Liberals and Nationals should look at merger, says Chaney". The Canberra Times. 17 July 1989.
  14. ^ "7.30 Report - 30 May 2006: Coalition parties mull action against Qld merger plan". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  15. ^ "Rising chorus for Coalition merger - National". The Age. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  16. ^ "Federal, Qld coalitions unelectable: MP - Breaking News - National - Breaking News". News.smh.com.au. 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  17. ^ "7.30 Report - 31 January 2006: Liberals should reject McGauran's application: Nationals chief". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  18. ^ "Non-classic Divisions". Australian Electoral Commission. 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  19. ^ "NSW Government in turmoil as 'betrayed' Nationals effectively leave Coalition over koala bill". www.abc.net.au. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Coalition to run joint Qld Senate ticket". ABC News. 5 August 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  21. ^ King, Madonna (18 May 2010). "LNP differences a Coalition headache". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  22. ^ "Liberal Party of Australia (N.S.W. Division) - Constitution". August 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Liberal and Country League State Council Address - Billy Snedden". 22 July 1974. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  24. ^ Martin, Robert (2009). Responsible Government in South Australia, Volume 2. South Australia: Wakefield Press. p. 82. ISBN 9781862548442.
  25. ^ Haxton, Nance (23 July 2004). "SA Govt recruits National Party MP". PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  26. ^ Brennan, Ben (4 September 2013). "Joyce takes aim at claim". The Murray Valley Standard. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  27. ^ Petrow, Stefan: Country Party, The Companion to Tasmanian History (University of Tasmania).
  28. ^ Grattan, Michelle. "Independent crossbencher Steve Martin joins Nationals, giving the party a Tasmanian presence". The Conversation.
  29. ^ Savage, Alison. "Peter Walsh takes over National Party leadership with new MP as deputy". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  30. ^ "Plans for United CP-Lib Party". The Argus. 5 February 1949. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  31. ^ Brian Costar (1985). "National–Liberal Party Relations in Victoria". In Hay, P. R.; et al. (eds.). Essays on Victorian Politics. Warrnambool: Warrnambool Institute Press.
  32. ^ Ian Hancock (2002). John Gorton: He Did It His Way. Hodder. ISBN 0733614396.
  33. ^ Chris Johnston – Attack the best defence for Ryan. Thanks, Cicero – The Age, 27 November 2006
  34. ^ David Rood – Libs, Nats revive coalition – The Age, 11 February 2008
  35. ^ Sakkal, Paul (26 November 2021). "'Is this what compliant looks like?': Victoria's crossbench conflict". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Opposition Merger - Proposed Liberal-Country League". The West Australian. 25 July 1946. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  37. ^ "Birth of Combined Party". The Mercury. 23 March 1949. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  38. ^ "Labor's clean sweep broken". News.com.au. Sydney: News Limited. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.[dead link]
  39. ^ Ker, Peter (26 August 2010). "Don't count me among Coalition, says Nat". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  40. ^ David Weber (11 March 2013). "Counting resumes for WA election but won't change decisive Barnett victory". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  41. ^ Green, Antony (7 February 2013). "2013 WA Election Preview". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  42. ^ "Nationals weigh coalition to form opposition in WA after Liberals wiped out". ABC News. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  43. ^ "Opposition Alliance Agreement Reached". The Nationals WA. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  44. ^ "WA Liberals and Nationals enter alliance instead of formal coalition following electoral wipeout". ABC News. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  45. ^ "WA Nationals, Liberals form alliance for opposition – just don't call it a coalition". WA Today. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  46. ^ . Northern Territory: Country Liberal Party. 2010. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2010.

coalition, australia, liberal, national, coalition, commonly, known, simply, coalition, informally, alliance, centre, right, political, parties, that, forms, major, groupings, australian, federal, politics, partners, coalition, liberal, party, australia, natio. The Liberal National Coalition commonly known simply as the Coalition or informally as the LNP a is an alliance of centre right 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 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 the 2013 federal election before being unsuccessful at re election in the 2022 Australian federal election The group is led by Peter Dutton who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 Australian federal election The Coalition Liberal National CoalitionAbbreviationLNP a LeaderPeter DuttonDeputy LeaderDavid LittleproudFounded1923 1934 1940Merger ofNationalistCountryIdeologyLiberalismConservatismLiberal conservatismAgrarianismPolitical positionCentre rightColors Blue and greenFederal member partiesLiberalNationalState territory member partiesLiberal ACTNSWSATasVicWA National NSWTasVic Other LNP Qld CLP NT House of Representatives57 151Senate32 76State territory lower houses161 455State upper houses50 155Politics of AustraliaPolitical partiesElectionsThe two parties in the Coalition have different 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 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 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 the National Party becomes the deputy prime minister during periods of conservative 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 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 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 Contents 1 History 2 Suggestions to merge 3 Electoral organisation 4 Nomenclature 5 Chronology 6 Federal election results 6 1 House of Representatives 7 States and territories 7 1 New South Wales 7 2 Queensland 7 3 South Australia 7 4 Tasmania 7 5 Victoria 7 6 Western Australia 7 7 Territories 8 See also 9 Notes 10 ReferencesHistory Edit Political advertisement in The Bulletin promoting the Coalition at the 1943 federal election The origins of the Coalition date back to the 1922 federal election when the Nationalist Party 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 the 1974 federal election as a Coalition 6 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 7 The solidity of the Coalition is so strong that when the Liberals won parliamentary majorities in their own right in 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 the by election 8 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 Suggestions to merge EditIn March 1973 former Prime Minister William McMahon publicly announced his support for a merger 9 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 10 During the 1980s former Nationals MP Peter Nixon reviewed the party and concluded it should seriously consider amalgamating with the Liberals 11 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 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 11 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 12 In July 1989 Senator Fred Chaney 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 13 In the wake of their 2007 federal election loss there was again talk of a merger in 2007 and 2008 11 as a result of a shrinking National Party vote 14 15 16 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 the Liberal Party 17 However no merger took place outside of Queensland Electoral organisation EditCoalition 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 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 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 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 Nomenclature EditDue to a disciplined coalition between the parties and their predecessors being in existence for almost 100 years with only 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 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 18 Chronology EditPeriod Alliance Member parties Elections1923 1931 Nationalist Country Coalition Nationalist NP 1925 1928 1929Country CP1934 1939 1940 1943 United Australia Country Coalition b United Australia UAP 1934 1937 1940 1943Country CP1944 present Liberal National Coalition c Liberal Country Liberal Liberal National LPA 1946 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1958 1961 1963 1964 1966 1967 1969 1970 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022National Country Liberal Liberal National NPAFederal election results EditHouse of Representatives Edit Election Leader Votes Seats Status1925 Stanley Bruce 1 551 760 53 20 51 75 11 Majority Government1928 1 286 208 49 56 42 75 9 Majority Government1929 1 271 619 44 17 24 75 18 Opposition1931 Joseph Lyons 1 533 627 48 35 50 75 26 Majority Government UAP Only 1934 1 618 946 45 58 42 74 8 Majority Government1937 1 774 805 49 26 44 74 2 Majority Government1940 Robert Menzies 1 703 185 43 93 36 74 8 Minority Government 1940 41 Opposition 1941 43 1943 Arthur Fadden 1 248 506 30 45 23 74 13 Opposition1946 Robert Menzies 1 706 387 39 28 26 76 7 Opposition1949 2 314 143 50 26 74 121 48 Majority Government1951 2 298 512 50 34 69 121 5 Majority Government1954 2 133 979 46 82 64 121 5 Majority Government1955 2 093 930 47 63 75 122 11 Majority Government1958 2 324 500 46 55 77 122 2 Majority Government1961 2 208 213 42 09 62 122 15 Majority Government1963 2 520 321 46 03 72 122 10 Majority Government1966 Harold Holt 2 853 890 49 98 82 124 10 Majority Government1969 John Gorton 2 649 219 43 33 66 125 16 Majority Government1972 William McMahon 2 737 911 41 48 58 125 8 Opposition1974 Billy Snedden 3 319 220 44 91 61 127 3 Opposition 1974 75 Caretaker Government 1975 1975 Malcolm Fraser 4 102 078 53 05 91 127 30 Majority Government1977 3 811 340 48 10 86 124 5 Majority Government1980 3 853 549 46 40 74 125 12 Majority Government1983 3 783 595 43 57 50 125 24 Opposition1984 Andrew Peacock 3 872 707 44 69 66 148 16 Opposition1987 John Howard 4 236 238 45 91 62 148 4 Opposition1990 Andrew Peacock 4 302 127 43 46 69 148 7 Opposition1993 John Hewson 4 681 822 44 27 65 147 4 Opposition1996 John Howard 5 103 859 46 90 94 148 29 Majority Government1998 4 352 795 39 18 80 148 14 Majority Government2001 4 887 998 43 01 82 150 2 Majority Government2004 5 471 588 46 70 87 150 5 Majority Government2007 5 229 024 42 09 65 150 22 Opposition2010 Tony Abbott 5 365 529 43 32 72 150 7 Opposition2013 5 882 818 45 55 90 150 18 Majority Government2016 Malcolm Turnbull 5 693 605 42 15 76 150 14 Majority Government2019 Scott Morrison 5 906 860 41 44 77 151 1 Majority Government2022 5 233 334 35 70 58 151 19 OppositionStates and territories EditNew South Wales Edit A Coalition between 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 Dominic Perrottet and the National Party by Paul Toole The Coalition won 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 New South Wales is the only state where the non Labor Coalition has never broken and yet has also never merged This remained 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 19 but the issue was resolved the next day and the Nationals remained in the Coalition Coalition Lower House Seats and endorsed parties NSW Parliament45 93Vic Parliament27 88QLD Parliament34 93WA Parliament6 59SA Parliament16 47Tas Parliament13 25ACT Parliament9 25NT Parliament8 25 Coalition Upper House Seats and endorsed parties NSW Parliament17 42Vic Parliament11 40WA Parliament13 36SA Parliament9 22Tas Parliament4 15Queensland Edit Due to Brisbane having a much smaller share of Queensland s population compared to the other state capitals Queensland is the only state in which the Nationals have consistently been 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 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 20 In 2008 the two parties agreed to merge forming 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 the leadership of former Liberal Campbell Newman who had taken over from Langbroek a year earlier However it lost power in 2015 and Springborg returned to the leadership only to lose a challenge by former Liberal Tim Nicholls in May 2016 Following another loss in the 2017 election Nicholls stood down as LNP party leader and was succeeded by Deb Frecklington who holds the ancestrally National seat of Nanango Bjelke Petersen s old seat 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 Senator Matt Canavan sits with the Nationals while the LNP s four other senators sit with the Liberals The highest profile LNP MP in recent years has been 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 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 21 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 South Australia Edit The state branch of 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 22 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 the Liberal Party in 1974 23 24 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 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 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 25 The party did not run candidates at the 2010 federal election but ran one candidate in 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 26 Tasmania Edit The National Party has never done well in Tasmania even though its first leader William McWilliams 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 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 was briefly revived in the 1990s before it too disappeared leaving the Liberal Party as the sole major non Labor party in the state 27 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 28 However Martin lost his bid for a new term Victoria Edit See also Liberal Party of Australia Victorian Division and National Party of Australia Victoria A Coalition between the Liberal and National parties exists in Victoria The Liberal Party is led by John Pesutto and the National Party by Peter Walsh 29 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 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 30 However McDonald saw this as an attempted Liberal takeover of the Country Party 31 32 and the Country Party turned the proposed merger down As 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 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 33 However the Coalition agreement was renewed in 2008 and the Victorian Liberal and National parties went into the 2010 election as a Coalition 34 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 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 35 Western Australia Edit See also Liberal Party of Australia Western Australian Division and National Party of Australia WA The Country Party was the stronger coalition partner from the 1933 state election to 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 Western Australia was formed to attempt to merge Country Party then called County Democratic League or CDL and Liberal Party together 36 This did not eventuate and the CDL did not join the new party 37 The National Party 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 38 Tony Crook 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 39 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 the Nationals 40 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 41 The Barnett government was heavily defeated at the 2017 state election and the two parties went their separate ways with Liberal Party being 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 42 Following the election the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition with National Party being 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 43 Similar to the 2008 and 2013 agreements the deputy leader of the senior party Nationals deputy leader Shane Love 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 44 45 Territories Edit Australian Capital Territory The National Party is not affiliated in the Australian Capital Territory leaving the Liberal Party as the sole major non Labor party in the territory Northern Territory The two parties branches in the Northern Territory merged in 1974 forming the Country Liberal Party The CLP governed the Territory from 1974 to 2001 and from 2012 to 2016 The CLP retains full voting rights within the federal National Party and has observer status with the federal Liberal Party The CLP directs its federal members of the House and Senate whether to sit with the federal Liberals or Nationals 46 In practice since the mid 1980s CLP House members have sat with the Liberals while CLP Senators sit with the Nationals For example Natasha Griggs sat with the Liberals when she held the Darwin area seat of Solomon from 2010 to 2016 CLP Senator Nigel Scullion was the leader of the Nationals in the Senate from 2007 to 2008 when he was succeeded by Barnaby Joyce He was the federal deputy leader of the Nationals alongside Truss from 2007 to 2013 Joyce became federal Nationals deputy leader after his successful transition to the House of Representatives at the 2013 election and Scullion returned as the Nationals Senate leader See also EditTwo party system United States Notes Edit a b The abbreviation LNP is used both for the federal Coalition 1 2 3 and for the Queensland based branch of the alliance the Liberal National Party 4 5 The coalition agreement between the United Australia and Country parties was often mentioned as the United Australia United Country UAP UCP coalition Between 1975 1982 the alliance was formally known as the Liberal National Country Coalition as the latter party changed names from the Country Party to the National Country Party before changing its name again to the National Party References Edit Political Parties Australian Electoral Commission AEC 11 August 2008 Retrieved 22 June 2022 The LNP are feeling threatened the growing ambition of independents challenging Coalition MPs Guardian Australia 12 March 2022 Retrieved 21 June 2022 How the Coalition vote is trending poor Australian Financial Review 28 May 2022 Retrieved 21 June 2022 LNP comfortably retains Queensland seat of Callide in by election ABC News 18 June 2022 Retrieved 21 June 2022 Crockford Toby 19 June 2022 Queensland s youngest MP elected after LNP claims Callide byelection The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 21 June 2022 Paul Davey 2006 The Nationals The Progressive Country and National Party in New South Wales 1919 2006 Annandale NSW Federation Press pp 39 40 ISBN 9781862875265 Retrieved 18 August 2013 Origins The Nationals Archived from the original on 27 August 2009 Retrieved 18 August 2013 Morrison committed to making minority government work SBS News 21 October 2018 Retrieved 10 April 2019 Mr McMahon wanted merger The Canberra Times 13 March 1973 PARTY MERGER FAVOURED The Canberra Times 23 May 1974 a b c Steketee Mike 31 January 2008 Too many conservatives spoil the amalgamation NEWS com au Archived from the original on 3 February 2008 Retrieved 30 June 2010 Sinclair douses suggested National Liberal merger The Canberra Times 17 June 1985 Liberals and Nationals should look at merger says Chaney The Canberra Times 17 July 1989 7 30 Report 30 May 2006 Coalition parties mull action against Qld merger plan Australian Broadcasting Corporation 30 May 2006 Retrieved 30 June 2010 Rising chorus for Coalition merger National The Age 17 December 2007 Retrieved 30 June 2010 Federal Qld coalitions unelectable MP Breaking News National Breaking News News smh com au 17 December 2007 Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 30 June 2010 7 30 Report 31 January 2006 Liberals should reject McGauran s application Nationals chief Australian Broadcasting Corporation 31 January 2006 Retrieved 30 June 2010 Non classic Divisions Australian Electoral Commission 2010 Retrieved 7 November 2011 NSW Government in turmoil as betrayed Nationals effectively leave Coalition over koala bill www abc net au 10 September 2020 Retrieved 10 September 2020 Coalition to run joint Qld Senate ticket ABC News 5 August 2007 Retrieved 17 November 2020 King Madonna 18 May 2010 LNP differences a Coalition headache The Drum Australian Broadcasting Corporation Liberal Party of Australia N S W Division Constitution August 1945 p 3 Retrieved 30 January 2020 Liberal and Country League State Council Address Billy Snedden 22 July 1974 Retrieved 30 January 2020 Martin Robert 2009 Responsible Government in South Australia Volume 2 South Australia Wakefield Press p 82 ISBN 9781862548442 Haxton Nance 23 July 2004 SA Govt recruits National Party MP PM Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 1 February 2011 Brennan Ben 4 September 2013 Joyce takes aim at claim The Murray Valley Standard Retrieved 17 November 2013 Petrow Stefan Country Party The Companion to Tasmanian History University of Tasmania Grattan Michelle Independent crossbencher Steve Martin joins Nationals giving the party a Tasmanian presence The Conversation Savage Alison Peter Walsh takes over National Party leadership with new MP as deputy ABC News Retrieved 10 February 2015 Plans for United CP Lib Party The Argus 5 February 1949 Retrieved 29 November 2019 Brian Costar 1985 National Liberal Party Relations in Victoria In Hay P R et al eds Essays on Victorian Politics Warrnambool Warrnambool Institute Press Ian Hancock 2002 John Gorton He Did It His Way Hodder ISBN 0733614396 Chris Johnston Attack the best defence for Ryan Thanks Cicero The Age 27 November 2006 David Rood Libs Nats revive coalition The Age 11 February 2008 Sakkal Paul 26 November 2021 Is this what compliant looks like Victoria s crossbench conflict The Age Fairfax Media Retrieved 1 December 2021 Opposition Merger Proposed Liberal Country League The West Australian 25 July 1946 Retrieved 28 November 2019 Birth of Combined Party The Mercury 23 March 1949 Retrieved 28 November 2019 Labor s clean sweep broken News com au Sydney News Limited 14 September 2008 Retrieved 14 September 2008 dead link Ker Peter 26 August 2010 Don t count me among Coalition says Nat The Age Melbourne Fairfax Media Retrieved 1 February 2011 David Weber 11 March 2013 Counting resumes for WA election but won t change decisive Barnett victory Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 11 March 2013 Green Antony 7 February 2013 2013 WA Election Preview Australian Broadcasting Corporation Nationals weigh coalition to form opposition in WA after Liberals wiped out ABC News 15 March 2021 Retrieved 15 March 2021 Opposition Alliance Agreement Reached The Nationals WA 19 April 2021 Retrieved 4 May 2021 WA Liberals and Nationals enter alliance instead of formal coalition following electoral wipeout ABC News 19 April 2021 Retrieved 4 May 2021 WA Nationals Liberals form alliance for opposition just don t call it a coalition WA Today 20 April 2021 Retrieved 4 May 2021 History of the Country Liberals Northern Territory Country Liberal Party 2010 Archived from the original on 29 August 2008 Retrieved 24 August 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Coalition Australia amp oldid 1138307554, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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