Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

The Australian party system
Like the other major parties, the National Party is a mass party and is open
for individuals to join. Similar to the Liberal Party, the National Party comprises
autonomous state divisions, while the role of the extra-parliamentary wing is to
provide financial and campaign support for the parliamentary wing. The extraparliamentary
wing is also responsible for pre-selecting candidates. 41
ThepartychangeditsnamefromtheCountryPartytotheNationalPartyof
Australia in 1982 as it sought to appeal to Australians living in cities. The party has
consistently tried to broaden its constituency as populations in cities have risen.
Since the 1980s, however, the party has focused on contesting provincial and rural
electorates as it has identified these as being its core constituency.
The National Party tends to avoid the divisions over policy goals apparent in
the Labor and Liberal parties. While there is some tension between those primary
producers focused on domestic consumption and those focused on exports, the
party remains united on broad philosophical questions. It does, on the whole,
advance a socially conservative agenda. 42 The National Party, like the Liberal Party,
is also highly critical of the role of unions and their impact on economic activity.
The National Party (then known as the Country Party) first agreed to form a
coalition with the Nationalists in 1923 in order to defeat Labor and wield executive
power. Today, the National Party has a formal coalition agreement with the Liberal
Party. As part of the agreement, the Liberal Party leader will be the prime minister,
while the National Party leader will be the deputy prime minister. Another condition
of the agreement is that the Liberal and National parties will not stand candidates
against each other unless the seat in question is vacant or held by another party.
For all its history, the National Party has essentially been a minor party. It
attracts a relatively small proportion of the primary vote and its appeal is limited
to Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Unlike other minor parties, however, it has
been able to consistently win seats in the lower house due to its ability to garner
support in rural and regional areas. In doing so, the National Party has been
integral to keeping its coalition partner in government and has, in turn, been given
opportunities to directly influence national policy.
The Senate party system
While the major parties also win the bulk of the seats in the Senate, the party system
in the upper house, unlike that in the House of Representatives, has undergone
a significant transformation. Changes to the party system coincided with changes
to the Senate voting system. The Chifley Labor government implemented a proportional
voting system in 1948, in time for the 1949 election. The party system
41 See Costar 2015.
42 See Costar 2015.
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