National Party of Australia – NSW

The National Party of Australia – N.S.W.[lower-alpha 1] , commonly known as the NSW Nationals, is a political party in New South Wales which forms the state branch of the federal Nationals. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the Progressive Party, from the 1922 split until 1925. It then used the name the Country Party until 1977, when it became the National Country Party. The party's name was changed to the National Party of Australia in 1982.

National Party of Australia – N.S.W.
Leader	John Barilaro
Deputy Leader	Paul Toole
Founded	1919
Youth wing	Young Nationals
Ideology	Conservatism Agrarianism[1]
Political position	Centre-right
Colours	Green and Yellow
Legislative Assembly	13 / 93
Legislative Council	6 / 42
House of Representatives	7 / 46 (NSW seats)
Senate	2 / 12 (NSW seats)
Website
nswnationals.org.au
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

John Barilaro, the party's current leader and Deputy Premier of New South Wales.

The party, commonly referred to as "The Nationals," has generally been the junior partner in a centre-right Coalition with the NSW branch of the Liberal Party of Australia. Since 1927, the Nationals have been in Coalition with the Liberals and their predecessors, the Nationalist Party of Australia (1927–1931), the United Australia Party (1931–1943), and the Democratic Party (1943–1945). New South Wales is the only state where the Coalition has never been broken, and yet has not merged into a unified non-Labor party.

During periods of conservative government, the leader of the Nationals also serves as Deputy Premier of New South Wales. When the conservatives are in opposition, the Liberal and National parties usually form a joint opposition bench. As a measure of the Coalition's solidity in NSW, the Liberals won enough seats to theoretically govern alone during the Coalition's massive landslide at the 2011 state election. However, new Premier Barry O'Farrell kept the Nationals in his government.

History

Name changes

• 13 October 1919 – The Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales, the NSW Graziers' Association and the People's Party of Soldiers and Citizens meet as the first electoral council of the Progressive Party of New South Wales.
• 15 December 1921 – Split of the Progressive Party between urban and rural wings. Rural wing (known as the "True Blues") continues as the Progressive Party.
• 12 August 1925 – Michael Bruxner announces to the NSW Legislative Assembly that the party has changed its name to the Country Party of New South Wales.
• 24 September 1931 – In order to clarify its support for the New England New State Movement, the party name changes to the United Country Party of New South Wales.
• 9 February 1944 – The State Conference agrees to a further name change as the Australian Country Party (N.S.W.).
• 26 June 1976 – The State Conference held in Broken Hill rejects a proposal to follow the federal party and rename itself as the "National Country Party of Australia – NSW".
• 26 June 1977 – The following State Conference held in Coffs Harbour approves the name change to the National Country Party of Australia – NSW.
• 26 June 1982 – The annual State Conference held in Wagga Wagga approves the name change to the National Party of Australia – NSW. The federal party does not make the same change until its Federal Conference on 16 October.
• 25 October 2003 – The NSW Central Council of the party approves the 11 October decision of the federal executive to use the term, The Nationals, in all state and federal election campaigns.[3]

Neo-Nazi infiltration

In 2018, the party revealed that approximately 30 members of its youth wing were being investigated for alleged links to neo-Nazism. Party leader Michael McCormack denounced these attempts stating that: "The Nationals will not tolerate extremism or the politics of hate. People found to engage with such radicalism are not welcome in our party. We are a grassroots party proudly championing what matters most to our regional and rural communities – always has been, always will be". Several suspected neo-Nazis were expelled from the party and its youth wing. The leader of the NSW Nationals, John Barilaro, also denounced racism and fascism within the party stating that: "I have no problems calling this out, this is something I’m very strong on, I do not accept racism".[4]

Leaders of the New South Wales National Party

This is a list of the Leaders of the National Party of Australia in New South Wales.

Party Leader	Start of Term	End of Term	Deputy Premier
Sir Michael Bruxner	1921	1925
Ernest Buttenshaw	1925	1932
Sir Michael Bruxner	1932	1958	1932–1941
Sir Davis Hughes	1958	1959
Sir Charles Cutler	1959	1975	1965–1975
Leon Punch	1975	1985	1975–1976
Wal Murray	1985	1993	1988–1993
Ian Armstrong	1993	1999	1993–1995
George Souris	1999	2003
Andrew Stoner	2003	2014	2011–2014
Troy Grant	2014	2016	2014–2016
John Barilaro	2016	incumbent	incumbent

Deputy Leaders of the New South Wales National Party

Deputy Leader	Start of Term	End of Term
William Fleming	1922	1922
Ernest Buttenshaw	1922	1925
William Missingham	1925	1932
David Drummond	1932	1949
Roy Vincent	1950	1953
Doug Dickson	1953	1958
Sir Charles Cutler	1958	1959
Bill Chaffey	1959	1968
Davis Hughes	1968	1973
Leon Punch	1973	1975
Tim Bruxner	1975	1981
Wal Murray	1981	1984
Ian Armstrong	1984	1993
George Souris	1993	1999
John Turner	1999	2003
Don Page	2003	2007
Andrew Fraser	2007	2008
Adrian Piccoli	2008	2016
Niall Blair	2016	2019
Paul Toole	2019	Incumbent

State election results

Election	Seats won	±	Total votes	%	Position	Leader
1927	13 / 90	4	100,963	8.89%	NP-CP Coalition government	Ernest Buttenshaw
1930	12 / 90	1	126,779	9.56%	Opposition	Ernest Buttenshaw
1932	23 / 90	11	175,862	13.16%	UAP-CP Coalition government	Michael Bruxner
1935	23 / 90	–	162,178	12.92%	UAP-CP Coalition government	Michael Bruxner
1938	22 / 90	1	164,045	13.86%	UAP-CP Coalition government	Michael Bruxner
1941	12 / 90	10	153,639	11.05%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1944	10 / 90	2	131,950	10.41%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1947	15 / 90	5	162,467	10.22%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1950	17 / 94	2	144,573	8.97%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1953	14 / 94	3	179,680	11.6%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1956	15 / 94	1	172,020	10.16%	Opposition	Michael Bruxner
1959	16 / 94	1	148,738	8.71%	Opposition	Charles Cutler
1962	14 / 94	2	180,640	9.37%	Opposition	Charles Cutler
1965	16 / 94	2	208,826	10.23%	LP-CP Coalition government	Charles Cutler
1968	17 / 94	1	229,656	10.62%	LP-CP Coalition government	Charles Cutler
1971	17 / 96	–	193,509	8.65%	LP-CP Coalition government	Charles Cutler
1973	18 / 99	1	261,504	10.48%	LP-CP Coalition government	Leon Punch
1976	18 / 99	–	270,603	10.03%	Opposition	Leon Punch
1978	17 / 99	1	276,984	9.90%	Opposition	Leon Punch
1981	14 / 99	3	314,841	11.21%	Opposition	Leon Punch
1984	15 / 99	1	266,095	8.85%	Opposition	Leon Punch
1988	20 / 109	5	440,482	13.74%	LP-NP Coalition government	Wal Murray
1991	17 / 99	3	324,214	10.52%	LP-NP Minority government	Wal Murray
1995	17 / 99	–	378,878	11.10%	Opposition	Ian Armstrong
1999	13 / 93	4	331,343	8.87%	Opposition	George Souris
2003	12 / 93	1	368,004	9.63%	Opposition	George Souris
2007	13 / 93	1	396,023	10.05%	Opposition	Andrew Stoner
2011	18 / 93	5	521,864	12.56%	LP-NP Coalition government	Andrew Stoner
2015	17 / 93	1	464,653	10.55%	LP-NP Coalition government	Troy Grant
2019	13 / 93	4	401,718	9.87%	LP-NP Coalition government	John Barilaro

Notes

1. The party name includes the periods in "N.S.W." according to the Australian Electoral Commission.[2]

References

1. "National Party Constitution" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
2. "Current register of political parties". Australian Electoral Commission. 22 March 2017.
3. Davey, Paul (2006). The Nationals: The Progressive, Country, and National Party in New South Wales 1919–2006. Leichhardt: Federation Press. pp. 452–453.
4. An abridged list of articles discussing neo-Nazi infiltration:
   • "'These guys are crazy': Barnaby Joyce backs 'Nazi' expulsions after backtrack". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
   • "Nationals clear man accused of leading alleged neo-Nazi branch stacking". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
   • Hutchins, Gareth. "Far right extremists 'not welcome' in Nationals, leader says amid investigation". The Guardian`. the Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
   • Michael, McGowen. "NSW Young Nationals expel and suspend members over far-right links". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

External links

• Official website