RSS
Home | Australian Political Party | National Party of Western Australia
|
|
|
Founded in 1913 to represent the interests of farmers and pastoralists, it was the first agrarian party in Australia to contest and win seats at the 1914 state election. Since then, it has continuously held seats in the state's Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, particularly in the state's Wheatbelt region, and for many years it also held Federal seats. While the party had historically functioned as part of a two-party coalition with the centre-right Liberal Party (and its predecessors) for most of its existence, tensions have always existed over the coalition arrangement, and on two occasions the party split over the issue. Since the passage of reforms initiated by the Labor Party to the electoral system reducing the number of non-metropolitan seats, the Nationals have refashioned themselves as an independent third party in Western Australian politics in an effort to ensure their survival and continued representation for agrarian interests in Parliament. In 2005 the party confirmed its intention to maintain parliamentary independence from the Liberal Party. In 2007, leader Brendon Grylls stated that the party "took a significant step and said no to a traditional coalition with the Liberal Party and will contest the (next) election as a stand-alone conservative party". Following the unexpected hung parliament produced by the election, the Nationals found themselves with the balance of power in both houses of the Western Australian parliament, opting ultimately to support the Liberals without becoming part of a coalition. Nationals WA candidate Tony Crook defeated Liberal Party incumbent Wilson Tuckey in the lower house seat of O'Connor at the 2010 federal election, where a four-seat deficit for both sides saw the first hung parliament since the 1940 federal election. Crook sits as a crossbencher, he and his party remained open to negotiations by both sides on the formation of the 2010 federal government. His main platform is pro-Royalties for Regions policy and anti-Mineral Resource Rent Tax. |
