The Country and Progressive National Party was a short-lived conservative political party in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n state of Queensland. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 under the leadership of

Arthur Edward Moore Arthur Edward Moore (9 February 1876 – 7 January 1963) was an Australian politician. He was the Country and Progressive National Party Premier of Queensland, from 1929 to 1932. He was the only Queensland Premier not to come from the ra ...

. Following repeated election defeat it split into separate rural and urban wings in 1936.

History

It was created in 1925 as the result of a merger between the state's two conservative parties, the United Party (the Queensland branch of the Nationalist Party) and the Country Party, in an attempt to end a decade of Labor domination in the state. Initially called the Country Progressive Party it was formed in May 1925 by all of the Country MLAs and all but four United MLAs; the outstanding four joined in December when the party took the name Country and Progressive National Party. The party was led throughout the entirety of its existence by

, previously the leader of the Country Party. In the 1929 state election the party won power, defeating Labor in a landslide. The election was further notable for the surprise victory of

Irene Longman Irene Maud Longman (; 24 April 1877 – 29 July 1964) was an Australian community worker and politician. She was Women and government in Australia, the first woman elected to the Parliament of Queensland, representing the Queensland Legislative ...

, a Country and Progressive National candidate and the first woman ever to be elected to the Queensland parliament. However, the government floundered amidst the difficulties of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and was swept from power in 1932 by the Labor Party, led by

William Forgan Smith William Forgan Smith (15 April 188725 September 1953) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of the state of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. He came to dominate politics in the state during the 1930s, and his populism, firm leadership ...

. It contested the 1935 state election, but was severely beaten, being reduced to sixteen seats, which left Labor with a massive majority. As a result, in 1936, the party again split, leaving two-state based parties - the Country Party and the United Australia Party, each aligned with the federal parties of the same names. From 1941-1944 another merger was attempted as the

Country-National Organisation The Country-National Organisation was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland during the Second World War. In Queensland the conservative parties had previously united from 1925 until 1936 as the Country a ...

Margaret Bridson Cribb, 'Fadden, Sir Arthur William (1894–1973)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fadden-sir-arthur-william-10141/text17907, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 19 June 2018. but this failed within a few years.Margaret Bridson Cribb, 'Hunter, James Aitchison Johnston (1882–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hunter-james-aitchison-johnston-6770/text11707, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 19 June 2018. A later merger between the two parties' successors, the Liberal and National parties, gave birth to the Liberal National Party of Queensland in 2008.

Election results

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Queensland Political parties established in 1925 Political parties disestablished in 1936 1925 establishments in Australia 1936 disestablishments in Australia

History

Election results

See also

References