The Citizens' Municipal Organisation (CMO), known before its expansion as the Citizens' Municipal Party (CMP), was an Australian political organisation that ran in local elections in the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

History

The CMO was formed in 1936 after the recently formed Citizens' Municipal Party decided to expand to a greater organisation, citing a desire to avoid party politics. Despite this claim, it was closely affiliated with the Queensland branch of the United Australia Party in the early part of the organisation's existence, before moving to the

Queensland People's Party The Queensland Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008. It was initially formed in October 1943 as the Queensland People ...

when the Queensland UAP separated in 1944. The People's Party became the Queensland division of the Liberal Party, and CMO aligned itself with the Queensland Liberal division until its own dissolution. It ran candidates in

elections throughout its existence. Two Lord Mayors were elected representing the CMO —

John Beals Chandler Sir John Beals Chandler (21 February 1887 – 19 January 1962), frequently referred to as J. B. Chandler, was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1940 to 1952, and the Member for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, representing the electorate of ...

from 1940 to 1952 and

Reg Groom Sir Thomas Reginald Groom (1906–1987) was Lord Mayor of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia from 1955 to 1961. Early life Groom was born at Teneriffe, Queensland, on 30 December 1906, and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University ...

from 1955 to 1961. The official dissolution date of the organisation is unclear. Before the 1967 election, a number of CMO members defected and formed the Liberal Civic Party, which ran candidates against both the CMO and Labor at that election but failed to win a seat. At the 1973 election, the CMO was described as "moribund" and the

Brisbane Civic Party The Brisbane Civic Party (BCP) was an Australian political party that briefly competed in Brisbane City Council elections. History After another defeat in 1970, the Citizens' Municipal Organisation (CMO) was described as "moribund" and did not co ...

was formed to challenge Labor, albeit unsuccessfully. Finally, from the 1976 election onwards, the Liberals decided to run under their own banner rather than that of the CMO or any other secondary organisation, certainly dissolving the ostensibly nonpartisan group in an official sense if it had not been already.

References

{{Liberal Party of Australia 1935 establishments in Australia Political parties established in 1935 1936 establishments in Australia Political parties established in 1936 Local government political parties in Australia Conservatism in Australia Political organisations based in Australia United Australia Party Liberal Party of Australia