The National Party of Australia – Queensland (NPA-Q), commonly known as the Queensland Nationals, National Party of Queensland or simply the Nationals, was the Queensland branch of the National Party of Australia (NPA) until 2008. Prior to 1974, it was known as the Country Party. The party was disestablished in 2008, when it merged with the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP).
Formed in 1915 by the Queensland Farmers' Union (QFU) and serving as the state branch of the National Party of Australia, it initially sought to represent the interests of the farmers but over time became a more general conservative political party in the state, leading to much debate about relations with other conservative parties and a series of mergers that were soon undone.
From 1924 onward, it was the senior partner in the centre-right coalition with the state Liberal Party and its predecessors, in a reversal of the normal situation at the federal level and in the rest of Australia. The Country-Liberal Coalition won power in 1957 and governed until the Liberals broke away in 1983; the Nationals continued to govern in their own right until defeat in 1989.
The party formed another Coalition with the Liberals that took power in 1996 but was defeated in 1998. After a further decade in opposition, in 2008, the two parties merged to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP).
History Throughout their history the Nationals were repeatedly beset by the question of whether or not to merge with other conservative political forces in the state to provide a unified political alternative to the Labor Party or whether it was more important to maintain a distinct voice for the countryside. A third approach, practiced most prominently in the 1970s and 1980s, was to seek to expand the party's appeal to urban Queensland and ultimately make the party the dominant force on the right.
Origins Prior to the First World War a series of efforts were made to give political representation to rural interests but these were slow and limited in scope, with most effort focused on existing parties. Then in the 1915 election dissatisfaction with the Liberal government of Digby Denham led to the Queensland Farmers' Union running its own candidates, five of whom were elected. John Appel, a former minister who had broken with Denham, became the leader of what was now a distinct separate Country Party grouping in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.J. C. H. Gill, Appel, John George (1859–1929), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 11 September 2025. The party drew its main strength from farmers in the east of the state and had limited success with graziers in the west. Although the United Cane Growers' Association and then the United Graziers' Association would join with the QFU by 1919 to form the Primary Producers' Union, the party's electoral base would be geographically constrained for the next four decades.
Independence was initially short-lived. Labor had won power at the 1915 election and the opposition forces soon looked to ally. The National Political Council was formed and the Liberals and Country Party came together as the National Party to fight the 1918 election; however the union was short-lived and in July 1920 the Nationalists split with the majority of MLAs reforming a separate Country Party led by William Vowles. A third party, the Northern Country Party emerged as a regional split with the Nationalists. The three parties co-operated in the 1920 state election but were unable to dislodge Labor. The same year saw the formation of the federal Country Party. In 1921 James Hunter won the Division of Maranoa in a by-election, giving the Country Party their first federal member in Queensland.Margaret Bridson Cribb, James Aitchison Johnston Hunter (1882–1968), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 11 September 2025.
Over the next few years the Country Party absorbed the Northern Country Party, though its elected members joined with the rump of the National Party who now organised in the state as the Queensland United Party. The United Party won more seats than the Country Party at the 1923 state election, but in subsequent elections fought as separate parties the Country/National Party would consistently win more seats than the other major conservative party.
Repeated fusion Arthur Edward Moore became the new leader of the Country Party in September 1923 and then the following April was elected leader of a joint opposition as the Country and United parties sought greater unity. In May 1925 the two parties' organisations merged as the Country Progressive Party but four United MLAs initially sought to revive as the Nationalist Party until December that year when they too joined in what was now named the Country and Progressive National Party. Moore would retain the leadership throughout the existence of the CPNP.B. J. Costar, Arthur Edward Moore (1876–1963), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 11 September 2025. The CPNP won power at the 1929 state election but the Moore Ministry would only last one term amidst the challenges of the Great Depression, being defeated in 1932. Following a second defeat in 1935, the CPNP split into separate Country Party and United Australia Party branches.
Ted Maher led the party to further defeats in 1938 and 1941. Then in April of the latter year, newly elected federal Country Party leader Arthur Fadden, MP for the Queensland Division of Darling Downs, sought to merge the Country and United Australia parties. Only in Queensland did this yield much success with the two parliamentary parties forming the Country-National Organisation.Margaret Bridson Cribb, Sir Arthur William Fadden (1894–1973), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 11 September 2025. Frank Nicklin of the Country side became the new leader of the party.Brian F. Stevenson, Nicklin, Sir George Francis (Frank) (1895–1978), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 11 September 2025. However the merger was resisted both by some Country Party MLAs and by the extra-parliamentary organisation, with the western division of the Queensland Country Party continuing to operate as a separate body. Former federal MP James Hunter worked hard for demerger, an aim achieved by 1944. A new party constitution allowed co-operation but forbade merger with other parties. Nicklin continued as the leader of the separate Country Party which co-operated with the Queensland People's Party, formed by John Beals Chandler out of the UAP remnants, which would later be renamed the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division) in 1949.John Laverty, Sir John Beals Chandler (1887–1962), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 11 September 2025.
A pattern was set in the 1944 state election whereby the Country Party secured fewer votes but more seats than the People's Party; this pattern would continue into the 1970s. Nicklin would continue to lead the party to defeat over five successive elections, but there seemed little prospect of defeating Labor, especially after the introduction of a malapportionment that significantly varied the size of electorates in different zones of the state.
Into government In 1957 the Labor Party in Queensland was engulfed in the split that had been growing in the party across Australia over the influence of communism. The sitting Premier Vince Gair was expelled from the party and led a breakaway Queensland Labor Party that sought to retain office.B. J. Costar, Vincent Clare (Vince) Gair (1901–1980), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 11 September 2025. Gair sought to retain office helming a minority government, and sought backing from the Country Party. Nicklin initially considered offering support to Gair, but then declined when Fadden–by then, de facto federal Deputy Prime Minister–argued there was the opportunity for the Country Party to win power in its own right. When the state parliament resumed sitting, the rump Labor caucus moved to block supply. Nicklin instructed the Coalition to vote against the government as well, bringing it down. At the 1957 state election, the Country-Liberal Coalition won power after a quarter of a century. Due to a large number of three-cornered contests (every QLP incumbent faced a Labor challenger, and vice versa), the Coalition won a solid majority, winning 42 seats against only 31 for the two Labor factions combined.