The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.
Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party, and then adopted the name the National Country Party in 1975. The party's name was changed to the National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is commonly referred to as "The Nationals". Federally, in New South Wales, and to an extent Victoria, it has generally been the minor party in a centre-right Coalition with the Liberal Party of Australia in government. In Opposition it has worked in formal Coalition or separately, but generally in co-operation with the Liberal Party and it predecessors, the United Australia Party. It was the major coalition party in Queensland between 1924 and 2008, when it merged with the junior Queensland Division of the Liberal Party of Australia to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP), an organisation dominated by ex-Nationals – seats listed in this article do not include the LNP.
The party's federal parliamentary leader since 3 December 2007, following the coalition's defeat at the 2007 federal election, is Warren Truss.
Read more about National Party Of Australia: History, Political Role, Liberal/National Merger, Historical Electoral Results, Leaders, Deputy Leaders, Current State Parliamentary Leaders
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