National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a centre-right and agrarian political party in Australia. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and rural voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a federal level. In 1975, it adopted the name National Country Party, before taking its current name in 1982.

Ensuring support for farmers, either through government grants and subsidies or through community appeals, is a major focus of National Party policy. The process for obtaining these funds has come into question in recent years, such as during the Sports Rorts Affair. According to Ian McAllister, the Nationals are the only remaining party from the "wave of agrarian socialist parties set up around the Western world in the 1920s".

Federally, the Nationals are the junior party in a centre-right grouping known in Australian politics as the Coalition, accompanied by the Liberal Party, which is predominantly an urban-based party. When in government the National Party leader has usually served as Deputy Prime Minister. The coalition has occasionally been dissolved on various occasions following electoral defeats, though the splits have not been permanent. The coalition arrangement varies in each state and territory.

Due to the closeness and integration of the two parties, as well as the declining vote of the Nationals in recent years, it has been proposed several times that the Liberals and the Nationals formally merge. In Queensland, for instance, the Country Party (later National Party) was the senior coalition party between 1925 and 2008, after which it merged with the junior Liberal Party to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland.

The current leader of the National Party is David Littleproud, who represents the Queensland electorate of Maranoa. He replaced Barnaby Joyce following a leadership spill in May 2022, after the Coalition's defeat in the 2022 federal election. The party's deputy leader since May 2025 is Kevin Hogan, who represents the electorate of Page in New South Wales.