CountryMinded was an Australian political party between 2014 and 2018 that claimed to represent the interests of regional Australians whose livelihoods depend either directly or indirectly on agricultural production. The party was founded in December 2014 by a group of people looking for accountable regional representation, including two brothers from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, David and Peter Mailler as the Country Party of Australia, and changed its name to CountryMinded in September 2015. In 2018, the party merged with the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

History

Peter Mailler stood as lead Australian Senate candidate for

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral C ...

in New South Wales at the 2013 Australian election and is also a former chair of Grain Producers Australia. CountryMinded was formed (as the Country Party of Australia) in response to perceived lack of attention to rural issues in the Australian political process, and dissatisfaction with how the National Party represents regional Australians. The party was registered in time to contest the 2016 federal election. It announced that it had reached the required 500 members in January 2016, and submitted the application for registration on 3 March 2016. Registration was confirmed on 12 April 2016. On 2 February 2018, the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

issued a notice that it was considering deregistering the party on the grounds that it had ceased to have at least 500 members. On 8 May 2018, CountryMinded was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission for that reason. Soon after the party was deregistered, the organisation merged with the

. The merged entity subsequently registered and unsuccessfully contested a few Senate seats in the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

federal elections.

Ideology

The party describes itself as non-aligned, rural, and independent. CountryMinded is founded on the fundamental importance of agriculture as the key sustainable foundation of regional socioeconomic and political stability, both domestically and abroad for current and

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...

. CountryMinded is founded around the idea that the stability and longevity of society has always and will always depend on the sustainability of the agricultural enterprise that supports it, thereby making all societies agricultural by definition. CountryMinded's ideology and policies are shaped around key ideas such as every member of society is dependent on agriculture and therefore part of the agricultural value matrix and conservation of agricultural lands (including surface and ground water resources) is essential for sustainable agricultural development for both current and future generations.

2015 state elections

CountryMinded did not contest the

2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a s ...

. It endorsed several independent candidates in the 2015 NSW state election as the Country Party of Australia. In February 2015 the party, though still unregistered, announced Ron Pike, a former National Party member, would run as a Country Party candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Council in the 2015 NSW state election. Three other candidates endorsed by the party stood for the Legislative Assembly, although they were listed as independents on the ballot paper. David Mailler contested the seat of Northern Tablelands,

Helen Dalton Helen Jennifer Dalton is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since March 2019, representing the electoral district of Murray as an independent. Since her election, Dalton has been a vocal c ...

stood in the seat of Murray, and Paul Funnell, a City of Wagga Wagga councillor, contested the seat of Wagga Wagga. Pike plus 13 others formed a group for the Legislative Council, however a group of 15 is required to have a box for voters to vote "above the line". The candidate descriptions did not claim to represent the Country Party of Australia, but three of the candidates in "Group V" (Ron Pike, Pete Mailler, and Julie Pike) nominated the www.yourcountryparty.info website.

Results

None of the candidates endorsed by the Country Party were elected. Helen Dalton placed second in Murray with 18.48% of votes to

Adrian Piccoli Adrian Piccoli (born 24 March 1970) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Murray in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, and the district of Murrumbidgee from 1999 to 2015. He was th ...

(who had been the member for Murrumbidgee before the redistribution). Piccoli had beaten Dalton for

National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...

preselection in May 2014, before Dalton ran as an independent. Paul Funnell was third in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

behind

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

Country Labor The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the ...

party candidates. David Mailler was beaten by both the Nationals and Country Labor candidates in

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

as well.

2016 Federal election

CountryMinded fielded two senate candidates and one candidate in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in each of Queensland and New South Wales in the 2016 federal election. David Mailler placed sixth of ten candidates with 1.41% in the

Division of New England The Division of New England is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is nam ...

, and Luke Arbuckle placed seventh of eight candidates with 2.38% in the

Division of Maranoa The Division of Maranoa is an Australian electoral division in Queensland. Maranoa extends across the Southern Outback and is socially conservative. In the 2016 and 2019 federal elections, Pauline Hanson's One Nation finished ahead of Labor, ...

. The senate candidates drew a total of 0.07% of first preferences in New South Wales and 0.10% in Queensland. Peter Mailler represented the party in the 2017 byelection in New England and placed sixth of 17 candidates with 2.4% of the vote.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 2014 establishments in Australia Agrarian parties in Australia Political parties established in 2014 Political parties disestablished in 2018 Defunct political parties in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia