The
Northern Territory Country Liberal Party (CLP) is a
Northern Territory political party
[1] affiliated with both the
Liberal and
National parties. It is a member of the
Coalition.
[2]The CLP dominated the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from its establishment in 1978 to 2001, but lost Government in 2001 and was reduced to four parliamentary members in 2005. At the 9 August 2008 Legislative Assembly general election it gained a significant swing, gaining 11 out of the 25 Northern Territory Legislative Assembly seats.
The Country Liberal Party (CLP) was established in the Northern Territory in 1974. The state Country Party members first contested the 1919 federal election, with an established federal Country Party contesting the 1922 federal election. The 1922 election saw the main anti-Labor party, the Nationalist Party of Australia deprived of a majority, and were required to form a coalition in order to command a majority on the floor of parliament. The price for such support was the resignation of Nationalist (ex-Labor) Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, who was replaced by Stanley Bruce.
In 1966, the Country Party was established in the territory, while the Liberal Party was small. In recognition of this, the local Liberals supported the Country Party candidate for the sole NT seat from 1969 to 1972. An alliance had formed, primarily against the conservatives' arch-rivals the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
