Coalition (Australia)

Coalition (Australia)

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement (on and off) since 1922. The Coalition partners are the Liberal Party of Australia (or its predecessors before 1945) and the National Party of Australia (known as the Australian Country Party from 1921 to 1975 and the National Country Party of Australia from 1975 to 1982). The Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory and the Liberal National Party in Queensland are their equivalents in those states, while the National Party of Western Australia and The Nationals South Australia are not in any form of coalition and are separate parties. There is no National Party in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) or Tasmania. The Coalition's main rival for government is the centre-left Australian Labor Party.

The Liberal leader being the larger party usually becomes the Prime Minister or Premier, while the National's leader usually becomes the Deputy Prime Minister or Deputy Premier, if the parties win control of the government. In modern times, Queensland was the only state where this is reversed, since Queensland was the only state where the National Party was the larger coalition partner. However, the Queensland coalition parties merged in 2008, leaving the former party affiliations with no real effect. Victoria also had coalitions dominated by the now-National party from the 1920s to the 1950s.

On the basis of the definition of what a coalition is, the Coalition only exists in Federal, New South Wales and Victorian politics.