Global InformationNational Party of Australia information
National Party of Australia | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | NP, NPA[1] |
| Leader | David Littleproud |
| Deputy Leader | Perin Davey |
| Senate Leader | Bridget McKenzie |
| Deputy Senate Leader | Perin Davey |
| President | Kay Hull |
| Founder | Eleven co-founders[a] |
| Founded | January 22, 1920[2] |
| Headquarters | John McEwen House, Barton, Australian Capital Territory |
| Think tank | Page Research Centre |
| Youth wing | Young Nationals |
| Women's wing | Nationals Women |
| Ideology |
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| Political position | Centre-right to Right-Wing[6][7] |
| National affiliation | Liberal–National Coalition |
| Colours |
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| Governing body | Federal Council |
| Party branches |
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| House of Representatives | 15 / 151 [Note 1] |
| Senate | 6 / 76 [Note 2] |
| Website | |
| nationals | |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in Australia |
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The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is a centre-right, agrarian political party in Australia. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a federal level.
In 1975, it adopted the name National Country Party, before taking its current name in 1982. Ensuring support for farmers, either through government grants and subsidies or through community appeals, is a major focus of National Party policy. The process for obtaining these funds has come into question in recent years, such as during the Sports Rorts Affair. According to Ian McAllister, the Nationals are the only remaining party from the "wave of agrarian socialist parties set up around the Western world in the 1920s".[8]
Federally (and to various extents, in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), the Nationals have been the minor party in centre-right Coalition governments with the Liberal Party; its leader has usually served as Deputy Prime Minister. In Opposition the Coalition was usually maintained, but even otherwise the party still generally continued to work in co-operation with the Liberals (as had their predecessors the Nationalist Party and United Australia Party). Due to the closeness and integration of the two parties, as well as the declining vote of the Nationals in recent years, it has been proposed several times that the Liberals and the Nationals formally merge. In Queensland, for instance, the Country Party (later National Party) was the senior coalition party between 1925 and 2008, after which it merged with the junior Liberal Party to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland.
The current leader of the National Party is David Littleproud, who represents the Queensland electorate of Maranoa. He replaced Barnaby Joyce following a leadership spill in May 2022, after the Coalition's defeat in the 2022 federal election. The party's deputy leader is Perin Davey, Senator for New South Wales.
- ^ "Political party name abbreviations & codes, demographic ratings and seat status". Australian Electoral Commission. 18 January 2016.
- ^ "Key Dates in the Party's Development". The Nationals.
- ^ Cockfield, Geoff; Curtin, Jennifer (2016). "The National Party of Australia's Campaign: Further 'Back from the Brink'" (PDF). press-files.anu.edu.au. Australia National University.
- ^ Merlan, Francesca; Raftery, David (2009). Tracking Rural Change: Community, Policy and Technology in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. ANU Press.
- ^ Gauja, Anika; Chen, Peter; Curtin, Jennifer; Pietsch, Juliet, eds. (2018). Double Disillusion: The 2016 Australian Federal Election. ANU Press. pp. 687–688. doi:10.22459/DD.04.2018. hdl:10072/415462. ISBN 9781760461867.
- ^ Colvin, R. M.; Jotzo, Frank (24 March 2021). Ali, Ghaffar (ed.). "Australian voters' attitudes to climate action and their social-political determinants". PLOS ONE. 16 (3): e0248268. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248268. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7990191. PMID 33760842.
- ^ "Generation Left: young voters are deserting the right". The Centre for Independent Studies. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Manning, Paddy (1 April 2020). "Inside the Nationals". The Monthly. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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