The National Party of Australia – Victoria[1] is a political party in Victoria, which forms the state branch of the federal Nationals. It represents graziers, farmers, miners and rural voters.
It began as a political activity of the Victorian Farmer's Union, which became involved in state politics in 1916. It was then known as the Country Party for many years, until becoming "The Nationals" in 1975.
In state parliament it is presently the junior partner in a centre-right Coalition with the Liberal Party, forming a joint Opposition bench. During periods of conservative government, the party's leader also serves as Deputy Premier of Victoria.
The candidates sponsored by the Victorian Farmers' Union from 1916 initially used the same name but in parliament also called themselves the Country Party.[2]
The Country Progressive Party split from the party in April 1926. In 1927 the VFU reorganised and renamed as the Victorian Country Party.[3]
The CPP and VCP combined in September 1930 as the United Country Party.[4]
In 1937, United Country Party federal MP John McEwen was expelled from the state branch for accepting a ministry in the Lyons-Page Coalition government. Following a tumultuous party conference in 1938, another federal MP, Thomas Paterson, led a hundred McEwen supporters to form the Liberal Country Party (LCP), a new party loyal to the federal party.[5] In April 1943, the LCP reconciled with the UCP.[6]
In the state election in June, the two parties notionally fielded separate candidates but formed a single block.
"United" was dropped from the name in March 1947.[7]
The party has had a strained relationship with the Liberal Party of Australia for most of the time since the creation of the latter party in 1944. Following the sacking of Country Party leader John McDonald as Deputy Premier by the Liberals in 1948, in March 1949, the Liberals dissolved and formed the Liberal and Country Party, attempting to merge the Liberals and the Victorian branch of the Country Party together.[8] This was seen by McDonald as a takeover attempt of the Country Party.[9][10] Six Country MPs defected and joined the new party, which in 1965 became simply known as the Liberals.
While its federal counterpart has been in Coalition with the Liberals and their predecessors for all but a few years since 1923, the Victorian Country (and later Nationals) branch fought elections separately from the Liberals from 1952 to 1989. Even the presence of Victorian John McEwen as federal Country Party leader and the number-two man in the government from 1958 to 1971 didn't heal the breach.[citation needed]
On 24 July 1975 the party changed its name to the National Party, following the Queensland branch who had made the change the previous year.[11]
Pat McNamara became leader of the Victorian Nationals in 1988, and two years later reached a new Coalition agreement with the Liberals. The Liberals and Nationals fought the 1992, 1996 and 1999 elections as a Coalition under Jeff Kennett. The Liberals actually won majorities in their own right in 1992 and 1996. Although Kennett thus had no need for the support of the Nationals, he retained the Coalition, with McNamara as Deputy Premier.[citation needed]
However, after the Kennett government's shock defeat in 1999, McNamara's successor as Nationals leader, Peter Ryan, tore up the Coalition agreement.[12] The Nationals were steadily re-defining themselves as a party distinct from the Liberals. Soon after Ryan took over the leadership, they rebranded themselves as the "VicNats." Ryan uttered several sharp criticisms of the Liberals' most prominent figures, particularly their no-tolls policy on the Melbourne Eastlink freeway[13] and on former leader Robert Doyle's remarks that the Liberals were twenty seats from government, a statement that assumed that the Nationals would support a Liberal government.[14]
In mid-2000, McNamara left the parliament and his hitherto safe seat of Benalla was also lost to the ALP. At the 2002 election, the Nationals received 4.3% of the primary vote, maintaining their seven seats in the Assembly and four seats in the Council; the combined total of eleven was the minimum required to maintain Third Party status.[15] However, they did manage to win back Benalla despite the ALP landslide; the only seat the ALP lost at that election.
Relations with the Liberal Party soured further at the beginning of 2006 when Senator Julian McGauran defected from the Nationals to the Liberals.[16] Federal party leader Mark Vaile accused McGauran of betrayal. Ryan was equally unsparing, saying of McGauran, "People treat deserters exactly in the way that this fellow will be treated and reviled for the rest of his days. And justifiably so."[17]
Many commentators had stated that The Nationals were facing electoral oblivion at the 2006 election, especially when rumours emerged of a possible preference deal between the Liberals and the ALP which would favour the Liberals against the Nationals, and the ALP against the Greens.[18] Changes to the Upper House were also likely to slash the Nationals from four members to just one. Ten days prior to the election, Ryan gave what one commentator described the "speech of the campaign thus far" when he lambasted the major parties for their planned actions.
"Welcome", he said, "to Survivor Spring Street", an exercise in reality politics in which "associations that in some instances have been developed for years, amount to an absolute hill of beans", one in which the support offered through long-standing political partnership "is thrown back in your face".[19]
The Nationals went on to increase their primary vote to 5.17%, winning two seats in the Assembly which were offset by two losses in the Legislative Council (the upper house).[20] One notable victory was in Mildura, where Peter Crisp defeated the incumbent Russell Savage (one of the three independents who had removed the Nationals from power in 1999), an event which Ryan described as "an impossible dream".[21]
Premier Steve Bracks resigned unexpectedly in July 2007. Unlike the Liberal leader, Ted Baillieu, Ryan commended Bracks on his parliamentary career and thanked him for his professionalism.[22] This action is in step with what one commentator describes as "an unprecedented warm relationship with the state Labor Government", which includes reciprocating support for committee chairs.[23]
The Nationals stayed on the crossbench until 2008, when they formed a Coalition with the Liberals under Ted Baillieu.[24] The renewed Coalition narrowly won the 2010 state election, but was ousted after one term in 2014. 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%).[25]
Ongoing leadership instability in the Liberal Party driven by John Pesutto's controversial attitude towards female MPs sparked media speculation in June 2023 that the Nationals might break the coalition to distance themselves from the Liberal infighting.[26]
Note that until the 1960s some seats were uncontested, which can distort the vote shares.
