Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

New South Wales
Party to the National Party in 1982 – and continued assertion of the need for a
distinctively rural voice in the parliament and in government. 39
The postwar vote share of Country/National Party candidates in Assembly
electionshasremainedstable,andtheparty’sshareofAssemblyseatshasfluctuated
within a narrow band (12.9 to 19.4 per cent). Its lowest Assembly seat return
occurred at the 2003 election but the party bounced back to record its highest
postwar share of seats at the 2011 election. 40
The ability of the Nationals to fend off demographic and political challenges
has meant that coalition agreements have persisted, with Nationals continuing to
hold the deputy premiership and other key ministries in Coalition governments.
The Queensland option of merging the Liberal and National parties has not been
seriously entertained in recent decades. 41
Minor party and independent challenges since the 1980s
The electoral support of Labor and the Coalition parties has softened since the
1980s. As noted earlier, the Coalition was forced into minority government between
1991 and 1995 with the support of several independents. More recently, independents,
the Greens and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFFP) have all won
Assembly seats.
Single-member districts make winning Assembly seats difficult for minor parties.
The proportional representation system used for Legislative Council elections
provides minor parties with more encouragement, since they only need to win
a relatively small vote across the state to win a seat. Since the democratisation
of the Council, 10 minor parties have won Council seats and minor parties now
command one-quarter of the vote at every Council election (see Table 4). The
longest standing of these parties is the socially conservative Christian Democratic
Party (CDP), whose leader, Fred Nile, first won a seat in 1981, when the party
was named Call to Australia (CTA). CTA was frequently opposed in the Council
by the socially and environmentally progressive Australian Democrats, with both
parties critical to the passage of government Bills at different times between 1988
and 1995. 42
After 1995, other minor parties became important players in the Council
at various times. Of the minor parties currently represented in the Council, the
Greens have the strongest organisation. The CDP relies on support networks within
the churches, the SSFP mobilises through gun clubs and hunting associations, and
the Animal Justice Party has strong connections to animal rights groups. Pauline
39 Aitkin 1972; Davey 2006.
40 Green 2012; Smith 2003.
41 Davey 2006.
42 Smith 2006.
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