Nationalist Party (Australia) facts for kids

Billy Hughes, founder and Nationalist Prime Minister, 1917–23.

The Nationalist Party was an important Australian political party. It was formed in February 1917. The party was created when two groups joined together: the Liberal Party and the National Labor Party. The National Labor Party was formed by Prime Minister Billy Hughes and his supporters. They had left the Australian Labor Party because of disagreements about forcing people to join the army during World War I.

The Nationalist Party aimed to unite groups that were not part of the Labor Party. They were in power for many years, sometimes working with the Country Party. In 1929, they lost an election. Later, in 1931, the Nationalist Party joined with some Labor politicians who had left their party. Together, they formed a new group called the United Australia Party. The Nationalist Party is seen as an early version of today's Liberal Party of Australia, which is a major centre-right party in Australia.

How the Nationalist Party Began

In October 1915, Andrew Fisher, who was the Prime Minister from the Australian Labor Party, retired. Billy Hughes was chosen to take his place. Hughes strongly believed Australia should play a big part in World War I. After visiting Britain in 1916, he became convinced that Australia needed conscription. This meant forcing people to join the army to help with the war.

The Conscription Debate

However, many members of his own Labor Party did not agree with conscription. This was especially true for Catholic members and trade union representatives. In October, Hughes held a plebiscite. A plebiscite is a vote by all citizens on a single important issue. He hoped to get public approval for conscription, but the idea was narrowly rejected.

Hughes continued to push for conscription, which caused a deep and bitter split. This division happened among the Australian public and within his own party. Many people in the Labor movement found it ironic because Hughes had strongly opposed other Labor members who disagreed with the party before.

Hughes Leaves the Labor Party

On 15 September 1916, the Labor Party in New South Wales officially removed Hughes from the party. When the Labor members of parliament met on 14 November 1916, Hughes walked out with 24 other members. The remaining members then voted that they no longer trusted his leadership. This effectively removed Hughes and his allies from the Labor Party.

Hughes and his followers then called themselves the "National Labor Party". They continued to govern, but they needed support from Joseph Cook and his Commonwealth Liberal Party. As the war continued, Hughes talked with Cook about officially joining their parties.

Forming the Nationalist Party

In February 1917, the two groups officially merged. They formed the Nationalist Party. Billy Hughes became the leader, and Joseph Cook became the deputy leader. Most members of the new party were former Liberals. This meant the party was mainly supported by people from upper and middle classes. However, many former Labor members, including some early Labor leaders, were also part of the Nationalists. This helped the party seem like it represented national unity.

Nationalist Party in Power

In May 1917, the Nationalists won a huge election victory. They formed the largest majority government Australia had seen since Federation. Many Labor politicians had followed Hughes into the Nationalist Party, which helped the Nationalists win so many seats. Hughes, who used to represent a working-class area, was elected for Bendigo in Victoria.

Second Conscription Vote

Hughes had promised to resign if his government did not win the power to bring in conscription. A second vote on conscription was held in December 1917. But the idea was defeated again, this time by an even larger margin. After his party voted that they no longer trusted his leadership, Hughes resigned as Prime Minister. However, because there were no other suitable leaders, the Governor-General immediately asked Hughes to become Prime Minister again. This allowed Hughes to stay in office while still keeping his promise to resign.

New Leaders and Coalitions

Hughes and the Nationalists won another election easily in 1919. They governed alone until the 1922 elections. In these elections, a new party, the Country Party, gained enough seats to decide which major party could form a government. The Nationalists were 12 seats short of a majority. They needed the Country Party's support to stay in power.

The Country Party did not like Hughes' policies for rural areas. Their leader, Earle Page, said he would not work with Hughes. Some conservative members of the Nationalist Party had only tolerated Hughes after the war, thinking he was still a socialist. Page's demand gave them a reason to remove Hughes. He was forced to resign in January 1923.

Stanley Bruce, who had been the Treasurer, was chosen as the new leader. He quickly formed a coalition with the Country Party. A coalition is when two or more parties join together to form a government. The Country Party demanded a high price: five seats in the cabinet (out of 11), with Page becoming Treasurer. Bruce agreed, and this marked the beginning of the traditional coalition between non-Labor parties in Australia.

Later Years and Merger

After Hughes left, the Nationalists became more conservative. The Nationalist-Country Coalition won a big victory in 1925 and was re-elected in 1928. However, in 1929, Hughes led a group of politicians to vote against Bruce's plans to change the industrial arbitration system. This is called "crossing the floor." In the election that followed, the Coalition lost badly. Bruce even lost his own seat in parliament. John Latham became the new leader.

The Nationalist Party was never a major force in Australian politics again. They had been in government for their entire 12-year history and were not prepared to be in opposition. In 1931, the Nationalist Party joined with a group of Labor politicians who had left their party, led by Joseph Lyons. They formed the new United Australia Party. Although former Nationalists made up most of the UAP, Lyons was chosen as the leader. The UAP then became the main non-Labor party in Australia.

The branch of the party in Western Australia kept the Nationalist name for a while. Eventually, it also joined with other non-Labor parties to form the current Liberal Party of Australia.

Young Nationalists Organisation

Around 1929, Robert Menzies, who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, worked with Wilfrid Kent Hughes to create the Young Nationalists Organisation. Menzies was its first President.

This organisation kept its name even when its main party became part of the United Australia Party. In the 1932 Victorian state election, half of the UAP members elected were Young Nationalists. This greatly increased their number in parliament. The Premier, Sir Stanley Argyle, included three of them in his cabinet, with Menzies as Deputy Premier.

Later, when Menzies started the Liberal Party of Australia, he invited members from the Young Nationalists to join. The Young Nationalists followed the UAP into the Liberal Party. They became the core of the new party's youth group, known as the Young Liberals.

Election Results

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Government
1917	Billy Hughes	1,021,138	54.2	53 / 75	53	1st	Majority
1919	Billy Hughes	860,519	45.0	37 / 75	16	1st	Minority
1922	Billy Hughes	553,920	35.2	26 / 75	11	2nd	Coalition
1925	Stanley Bruce	1,238,397	42.4	37 / 75	11	1st	Coalition
1928	Stanley Bruce	1,014,522	39.0	29 / 75	8	2nd	Coalition
1929	Stanley Bruce	975,979	33.9	14 / 75	15	2nd	Opposition

Party Leaders

No.	Leader (birth–death)	Portrait	Electorate	Took office	Left office	Duration of tenure	Prime Minister (term)
1	Billy Hughes (1862–1952)		West Sydney, NSW Bendigo, Vic. North Sydney, NSW	17 February 1917	2 February 1923	5 years and 351 days		Hughes (1915–1923)
2	Stanley Bruce (1883–1967)		Flinders, Vic.	3 February 1923	23 October 1929	6 years and 264 days		Bruce (1923–1929)
								Scullin (1929–1932)
3	John Latham (1877–1964)		Kooyong, Vic.	20 November 1929	May 1931	1 year and 191 days

See also

In Spanish: Partido Nacionalista de Australia para niños