National Party of Australia
The Australian agrarian party, founded in 1920, the junior coalition partner for a century.
Overview
The Country Party formed in 1920 from farmer and grazier organizations, winning the 1923 Bruce coalition that institutionalized the coalition arrangement with the urban Liberals. Renamed National Party in 1975 and 1982 across states, it delivers rural and regional representation, infrastructure, and agricultural policy, in near permanent coalition except 1987 and brief breaks. Earle Page, John McEwen, Tim Fischer, Warren Truss, Barnaby Joyce, and Michael McCormack served as leader and deputy prime minister in coalition governments. It survives demographic rural decline through Senate balance and seat deals, the most durable agrarian party in the democratic world.
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