The Liberal Union was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
resulting from a merger between the
Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) and the two
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
parties, the
Australasian National League (ANL, formerly National Defence League (NDL)) and the
Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU) as a response to
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
successes culminating in South Australia's first
majority government
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...
at the
1910 election.
The Liberal Union was created in 1910 after the LDU, the ANL and the FPPU endorsed a shared "Liberal" slate of candidates at that year's election. The parties readily approved the merger, however, the LDU which salvaged the fewest of their principles from the merger were more hesitant. LDU leader
Archibald Peake persuaded a party conference that 'the day of the middle party is passed', and approved the merger by just one vote.
The Liberal Union was affiliated to the federal
Nationalist Party. Unusually, the Nationalist Party in South Australia was composed of members of two separate parties, the Liberal Union and the
National Party, which caused significant tensions when the two parties had a bitter falling out and ran competing slates of candidates at the
1922 federal election.
The Liberal Union amalgamated with the National Party to form the
Liberal Federation in October 1923.
Parliamentary leaders
*
Archibald Peake (1910–1920)
*
Henry Barwell
Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG (26 February 187730 September 1959) was the 28th premier of South Australia.
Early life
Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Barwell was educated at St Peter's College and Adelaide University, graduating in law. ...
(1920–1923)
See also
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1910–1912
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1912–1915
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1915–1918
This is a list of members of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1915 to 1918, as elected at the 1915 state election:
: Alexandra Liberal MHA Alexander McDonald resigned on 17 May 1915. Liberal candidate Archibald Peake won the re ...
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1918–1921
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1921–1924
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1910–1912
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1912–1915
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1915–1918
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1918–1921
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1921–1924
References
Defunct liberal political parties
Defunct political parties in South Australia
Liberal parties in Australia
1910 establishments in Australia
Political parties established in 1910
1923 disestablishments in Australia
Political parties disestablished in 1923
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