The relationship with the rural-based National party is an important constant companion to the
Li e al pa t s histo . The a ou t of atte tio gi e o e to the Cou t pa t i West s a ou t
attests to the oalitio pa t e s a ilit to i flue e a d lo k Li e al pa t a itio s. The pa t , which began life as a social movement, in a way the LPA could never claim, profited from the
ge a de a d ou t i ded ess he the u al populatio as still vibrant and delivered government to the Liberal party.153 While many of the dynamics of this relationship have evolved
148
Ke p, A Leade a d a Philosoph .
149
For example consider West, Power in the Liberal Party; Abjorensen, Leadership and the Liberal Revival; Abjorensen, John Howard and the Conservative Tradition; Brett, The Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class; Brett, ‘o ert Me zies Forgotte People.
150
George B a dis, A t ue elie e i the o u it , The Australian, February 16 2010.
151
Jaensch, The Liberals, 157.
152
E i gto , The Li e al Pa t : Ele to al “u ess despite O ga isatio al D ift , .
153
Don Aitki , Cou t i ded ess : The “p ead of a Idea , Australian Cultural History, no. 4 (1985): 34–41; B. D. Graham, The Formation of the Australian Country Parties (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1966).
47
over time, several dynamics which Hancock noted as features of the relationship in the early 1950s are recognisable to us today.154
The Coalition relationship is often a relationship cast in a negative light. Aitcheson characterised the
elatio ship ith the Cou t pa t as pa i g e t a d u de li ed hat he sa as the high p i e fo
the nation, party and individuals.155 Political scientists and historians such as Crisp and Hancock have also highlighted the tensions, even loathing, between the two partners.156 Writing in the aftermath
of the ele tio , Jae s h e e uestio ed h the oalitio e ists gi e that the t o pa ties
ideologies a e utuall a tago isti a d the Natio als ead willingness to campaign for sectional
i te ests a d ag a ia so ialis , despite the da age it auses to its oalitio pa t e .157 He went
further arguing that during the 1980s, the Natio als had ee a illsto e , e odi g the Coalitio s credentials as an alternative government.158The pa t s i siste e o its o disti ti e alues
ea t the oalitio as a u atu al o st u t , hi h ould o l eate p o le s fo the Li e al
party.159
More recently, the elatio ship is ie ed o e e ig l , p o a l as a esult of the Natio al pa t s
a i g i flue e. Costa s i te p etatio of the Natio als predicament in the mid-1990s recognised that the party was undergoing a transition. Its identity was confused as it struggled with the loss of its electoral heartland but still steadfastly refused amalgamation.160 Leadership instability likely further weakened its standing.161 Indeed, Costar has explicitly argued against the negative
interpretation of the Coalition relationship as one where the National party demands concessions. Rather, the relationship between the two parties is one of give and take and dependent on the political talents of National party members themselves.162
Two decades on, the National party has eased to e a fa e s pa t , a d is o fi l egio al i its outlook and services a niche political constituency.163 As Woodward observed, the party is under threat from the rise of independents, ALP voting coastal populations, its inability to deliver policies that secure regional living standards and growing encroachment of the Liberal party into its old
154
Hancock, National and Permanent?
155
Raymond Aitchison, Looking at the Liberals (Melbourne: Cheshire, 1974), 13.
156
Crisp, Australian National Government, 261.
157
Jaensch, The Liberals, 96–99.
158
Ibid., 223.
159
Ibid., 224.
160
B ia Costa , The Natio al Pa t : ‘e i al o E ti tio ? , i For Better or for Worse: The Federal Coalition, ed. Brian Costar (Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1994), 130, 133, 144.
161B ia Costa , Coalitio Politi s a d the Poli P o ess , i
Policy and Change: The Howard Mandate, ed. Scott Prasser and Graeme Starr (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1997), 136–37.
162I id., ; Costa , The Natio al Pa t : The ‘esilie t Pa t ; B ia Costa , Aust alia s Cu ious Coalitio ,
Political Science 63, no. 1 (2011): 29–44.
48
territories.164 Amalgamation continues to be an important area of discussion, but for many, the formation of the Liberal-National Party (LNP) in 2008 was the result of circumstances specific to Queensland.165 Indeed, as Miragliotta et al. noted, at the federal level it often suited the hard- pressed social liberals to have the more conservative National party members in another party room, even if that is not a failsafe protection.166 As a testament to its success, the Coalition has never been dissolved in government. An aim of this study is to better understand how political
a to s i te p et the Coalitio elatio ship, ho the pa t s a age e t p o esses ope ate and what limits to they place on the leade s po e . It ill a gue that despite the Joh fo PM fias o, the Coalition relationship since 1983 is a history of continuity.