X-Nico

5 unusual facts about National Party of Australia


Centenary House

The Federal Opposition (the Liberal-National Coalition at that time) demanded an enquiry to what they saw as a "rort" and the Keating ALP Government set up a Royal Commission.

Fred Gruen

At Gruen's testimonial dinner in 1986, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam joked about Gruen's retirement, about the improved stature of economics in response to recent economic difficulties, and about the resignation of John Stone from his position as Secretary to the Federal Treasury to become a politician with the right of centre National Party.

Hendra railway station

On 27 January 1998, the line was re-opened to passenger services under a Borbidge National Party government, but only operating as far as Doomben.

Northern Suburbs Transit System

It was also at the time members of the then Liberal-National Coalition in opposition and local community groups rallied against what they claimed was the lack of the then government's commitment to transport in the northern corridor.

Port of Hastings Development Authority

The Ports Integration Bill was strongly opposed in the Victorian Parliament by the Liberal and National parties, predominantly on competition grounds, and by the Greens for environmental reasons.


Advance Australia Fair

A National Party senator, Sandy Macdonald, said in 2001 that "Advance Australia Fair" is so boring that the nation risks singing itself to sleep, with boring music and words impossible to understand.

Arthur Coles

Coles was one of the two independents (the other was Alexander Wilson) who held the balance of power through the early years of the Second World War, and crossed the floor in 1941 to remove the hapless UAP-Country Party government of Arthur Fadden and install John Curtin of the Australian Labor Party as Prime Minister of Australia.

Bertie Johnston

Johnston won his seat as a Country Party candidate in the election of September 1917, and would hold it for the Country Party until 1928.

Bill Tilley

He was elected at the 2006 Victorian state election, beating Labor candidate and Wodonga mayor Lisa Mahood and former Nationals Upper House member Bill Baxter.

Cameron Thompson

Thompson became a senior adviser to state National leader Lawrence Springborg and temporarily vacated that position to contest the state Liberal presidency against Mal Brough and sitting Liberal Party president Gary Spence on a platform of merging the Liberal and National parties.

Clarence state by-election, 2011

Eight candidates contested the by-election including Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis who previously contested the federal seat of Page at the 2007 federal election, and Labor candidate Peter Ellem.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Clarence on 19 November 2011, following the resignation from parliament on 16 September of Nationals MP Steve Cansdell.

Digby Denham

The 1915 election saw the Liberal government swept out of power; 21 seats changed hands, with the main beneficiaries being the new Farmers' Union, an early precursor to the Country Party, and the Labor Party, which formed a majority government for the first time under T. J. Ryan.

Electoral district of Clarence

It was represented by Steve Cansdell of the National Party of Australia until he resigned on 16 September 2011 due to issues relating to a statutory declaration related to a speeding offence.

Electoral district of Northern Tablelands

Labor endorsed McCarthy's widow, Thelma, at the subsequent by-election, but she was narrowly defeated by National Party candidate Ray Chappell after a heavily-publicised campaign.

Grafton Express

With the National Party having lost a number of North Coast seats in the 1990 Federal election in a policy reversal it was announced that Xplorer railcars would be purchased to extend the Northern Tablelands Express with an XPT to be released to operate a daily service to Grafton.

Harry Kneebone

In 1931 he was appointed to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for South Australia, filling the casual vacancy caused by the death of Country Party Senator John Chapman, but lost it in the election of later that year.

Henry Gullett

However, when Robert Menzies formed a coalition with the Country Party in March 1940, he was moved to Vice-President of the Executive Council, and Minister in charge of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Jack Renshaw

Renshaw stood in the 1941 election, winning the seat from the Country Party member, Alfred Yeo, who had held Castlereagh for the previous nine years.

Mark Kersten

At the 1995 state election, he was selected as the National Party's candidate for the seat of Broken Hill.

New South Wales Xplorer

After suffering a number of losses in northern NSW electorates where services were cut during the March 1990 Federal Election, the National Party decided a policy reversal was needed.

North Queensland Labor Party

It has been classified as a 'aggrieved minority' party, meaning that its primary purpose (similar to the National Party of Australia) is representation of a particular geographical grouping of people within Australia, in this case North Queensland.

Phil Koperberg

Following the 2011 state election that was won by the O'Farrell-Stoner Liberal/National coalition, Koperberg was appointed as chairman of the State Emergency Management Committee.

Russell Savage

Savage lost his seat to the National Party's Peter Crisp in the 2006 Victorian State election, a loss he attributed to the Nationals' high-budget campaign, Labor's failure to reopen the Mildura rail link, and a proposal to build a toxic waste dump in his electorate.

Sue Page

At the 2007 federal election, Page was the endorsed National Party candidate for the electorate of Richmond in northern New South Wales where she took a strong stance on environmental issues including nuclear power.

Warwick Moss

In 2007 Moss was commissioned by McCann Erickson Advertising to direct, write and Voice the entire National Party television campaign for the New South Wales State Elections.


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