The National Liberal Party was a short-lived political party in the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It was formed in 1974 by Senator

George Hannan George Conrad Hannan (10 September 19101 May 2009) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1956 to 1965 and 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the Liberal Party for all but the last few months of his career, and was ...

, as a breakaway from the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. The party failed to win any seats at the 1974 federal election, and disbanded soon after.

Background

Hannan was a strident

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

, and was disturbed by the nonchalance of his party to the new "

permissive society A permissive society, also referred to as permissive culture, is a society in which some social norms become increasingly liberal, especially with regard to sexual freedom. This usually accompanies a change in what is considered deviant. While ty ...

". In August 1973, he lost Liberal preselection for the next federal election to Alan Missen, a noted civil libertarian and social liberal. However, he later said that his formation of a new party was "only indirectly connected with my loss of endorsement".

Formation

In a speech to the Senate on 20 March 1974, Hannan announced his resignation from the Liberal Party and the formation of the National Liberal Party, of which he was to be leader. He said that the new party's platform was "firmly based on principles enunciated by Sir Robert Menzies" and that it would "uphold the best traditional values of the Liberal Party". His announcement was unexpected, and was made without informing the Liberal leader, Billy Snedden. On 3 April, the President of the Senate,

Magnus Cormack Sir Magnus Cameron Cormack Order of the British Empire, KBE (12 February 1906 – 26 November 1994) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party and served multiple terms as a Australian Senate, ...

, ruled that Hannan would not be recognised as the leader of a political party for Senate purposes (which would have conferred certain benefits in parliamentary procedure). The new party was officially launched on 31 March, at the

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between ...

. Hannan announced that the party's policies included abolishing the metric system, ending inheritance tax and sales tax, and reducing parliamentary salaries by ten percent. It was estimated that about 500 people were in attendance, although Hannan had hoped for a crowd of several thousand. Many Liberal Party officials attended as interested observers, but took pains to emphasise to reporters that they had not joined the new party. Past and present MPs in attendance included Alex Buchanan, Horace Petty, and Ivy Wedgwood. ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' noted that the audience "seemed dominated by migrants, including many wearing Croatian badges". The ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

'', the official newspaper of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

, claimed that the party was linked with Croatian nationalist groups and that its Senate candidates had attended a gathering celebrating the creation of the fascist

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

1974 election and demise

At the 1974 election, the National Liberal Party ran only in Victoria, although Hannan had previously stated that he hoped a branch could be established in New South Wales. It polled just under 24,000 votes, which amounted to 1.3 percent of the state total. The other two candidates on its ticket besides Hannan were Reginald Hollow and Luke Cuni. On 3 March 1975, Hannan announced that he was disbanding the party and returning to the Liberals.

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Victoria (state) Political parties established in 1974 1974 establishments in Australia Political parties disestablished in 1975 1975 disestablishments in Australia