Nationalist Party of Australia
The Nationalist Party of Australia was a political party in Australia that was active at the federal level from 1917 to 1931.
The party emerged on February 17, 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party , which had been formed by disappointed members of the Australian Labor Party , led by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes . Until it merged with other former Labor members to form the United Australia Party in 1931, it was the second largest party in the country after the Labor Party.
prehistory
In October 1915, the incumbent Prime Minister Andrew Fisher resigned, whereupon Billy Hughes was chosen in a meeting of the Labor Party as his successor. He was one of the great supporters of Australian participation in the First World War . After a visit to England in 1916 it became clear to him that a sufficient contribution from Australia would only be possible with general conscription . Since most of his party colleagues had a Roman Catholic background or were trade union members and the Easter Rising in Ireland that same year , hardly anyone wanted to help the English. In October, Hughes tried to introduce compulsory military service in a referendum, but was punished bitterly in the final vote. Hughes was not discouraged and continued to fight for Australia to join the war. This created a split within the Australian people and Hughes' party. On September 15, 1916, Hughes was therefore expelled from the Labor Party, along with 24 other party members.
history
Hughes and his colleagues formed a minority government as the National Labor Party . He then negotiated with Joseph Cook , leader of the Commonwealth Liberal Party , and so the two parties merged to form the Nationalist Party of Australia. In May 1917 the Nationalists achieved a great election victory. In December 1917, a second referendum on conscription was held and again rejected. After winning a vote on the vote of confidence within the party, Hughes resigned. Since there was no alternative to Hughes, the Australian Governor General Ronald Munro-Ferguson reinstated him as Prime Minister, so that while he could keep his promise to resign, he could continue to be Prime Minister at the same time.
Hughes' party could rule alone until the 1922 elections, when the Country Party ended the majority of the nationalists. Country Party chairman Earle Page pledged his support to the nationalists if Hughes resigned. Then Stanley Bruce became the new party leader and the Country Party joined the nationalists. The Bruce Page government lasted until 1929.
In 1931, after negotiations with a group of former Labor MPs led by Joseph Lyons , the Nationalist Party of Australia was dissolved and its members included in the United Australia Party .
Party leader
- Billy Hughes 1917-1922
- Stanley Bruce 1922-1929
- John Latham 1929-1931
