Country Liberal Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Country Liberal Party | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Jodeen Carney |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | 107 Woods Street Darwin NT 0800 |
| Political Ideology | Liberal conservatism |
| International Affiliation | No affiliation |
| Website | Country Liberal Party |
| See also | Politics of Australia |
In Australian politics, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) is the Northern Territory equivalent to the Liberal and National parties.
The CLP's Federal representatives (currently, the party has one Senator, Nigel Scullion, and one MP, Dave Tollner) sit with the National and Liberal parties in the Australian Parliament as part of the Coalition.
Until the major change of 2001, the CLP was closely associated with Territorians of European decent, while the ALP was associated with those of Aboriginal descent. This affected the way these groups were treated at both a Territory and Federal government level.
[edit] History
In 1966, the Country Party was well established in the territory, while the Liberal Party was small. In recognition of this, the local Liberals supported the Country candidate for the sole NT seat from 1966 to 1972. An alliance had formed, primarily against the conservatives' arch-rivals the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
In 1974, the Northern Territory was given self-government, and its own Legislative Assembly. The local Country and Liberal Party members decided to form an independent "Country Liberal Party" to field candidates for the Assembly. It was wildly successful, and remained so for 27 years.
In 1979, the CLP formally affiliated with both the Liberal Party and the then-National Country Party. These affiliations remain to this day, and relationships with both parties is close. However, the CLP has had no major opportunities to sway the actions of either.
In 2001, the CLP lost control of the Territory government in a landslide loss, to the ALP. The loss marked a major turning point in Northern Territory politics, a result which was exacerbated when, in 2005, the ALP won a second landslide victory, reducing the once-dominant CLP to a total of just four members in the Legislative Assembly.
[edit] External links
Country Liberal Party | Democrats | Family First | Greens | Labor Party | Liberal Party | National Party
