Queensland National Party

Queensland National Party
National Party of Australia – Queensland
AbbreviationNPA-Q
LeaderFull list
Founded1915 (1915)
Dissolved26 July 2008 (2008-07-26)
Merger of
Merged intoLiberal National
Headquarters37 Merivale Street, South Brisbane, Queensland
Youth wingYoung Nationals
Membership (1989)50,000
Ideology
Political position
National affiliationFederal Nationals
Colours  Green
Legislative Assembly
49 / 89
(1986–1989)
Website
qld.nationals.org.au

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).