View source for Country and Progressive National Party

{{Short description|Former political party in Queensland, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{distinguish|Progressive Nationalist Party}}
The '''Country and Progressive National Party''' was a short-lived [[Conservatism|conservative]] political party in the [[Australia]]n state of [[Queensland]]. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 under the leadership of [[Arthur Edward Moore]]. Following repeated election defeat it split into separate rural and urban wings in 1936.<ref>{{cite web |title=COUNTRY PROGRESSIVE PARTY |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/79328592 |publisher=The Western Champion |access-date=26 December 2024 |page=22 |date=23 May 1925}}</ref>

==History==
The party was formed on 12 May 1925 as the result of a merger between the state's two conservative parties, the [[Queensland United Party|United Party]] (the Queensland branch of the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist Party]]) and the [[National Party of Australia – Queensland|Country Party]], in an attempt to end a decade of [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] domination in the state.<ref>{{cite web |title=A COUNTRY PROGRESSIVE PARTY |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60946853 |publisher=Townsville Daily Bulletin |access-date=26 December 2024 |page=4 |date=13 May 1925}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Country Progressive Party |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/217125963 |publisher=The Bundaberg Mail |access-date=26 December 2024 |page=4 |date=14 May 1925}}</ref> Initially called the '''Country Progressive Party''' it was formed by all of the Country MLAs and all but four United MLAs; the outstanding four joined in December when the party took the name '''Country and Progressive National Party'''.<ref>B. J. Costar, 'Moore, Arthur Edward (1876–1963)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-arthur-edward-7632/text13343, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 19 June 2018.</ref> The party was led throughout the entirety of its existence by [[Arthur Edward Moore]], previously the leader of the Country Party. In the [[1929 Queensland state election|1929 state election]] the party won power, defeating Labor in a landslide. The election was further notable for the surprise victory of [[Irene Longman]], a Country and Progressive National candidate and the first woman ever to be elected to the Queensland parliament. However, the government floundered amidst the difficulties of the [[Great Depression]], and was swept from power in 1932 by the Labor Party, led by [[William Forgan Smith]]. It contested the 1935 state election, but was severely beaten, being reduced to sixteen seats, which left Labor with a massive majority. As a result, in 1936, the party again split, leaving two state-based parties - the [[National Party of Australia – Queensland|Country Party]] and the [[United Australia Party – Queensland|United Australia Party]], each aligned with the federal parties of the same names.<ref name="hughes17">{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Colin A. |date=1980 |title=The Government of Queensland |publisher=University of Queensland Press |page=17 |isbn=978-0702215155 }}</ref> The two parties continued in a [[Coalition (Australia)|coalition]], with the Country Party as senior partner.

From 1941-1944 another merger was attempted via the [[Country-National Organisation]]<ref>Margaret Bridson Cribb, 'Fadden, Sir Arthur William (1894–1973)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fadden-sir-arthur-william-10141/text17907, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 19 June 2018.</ref> but this failed within a few years.<ref name="autogenerated1968">Margaret Bridson Cribb, 'Hunter, James Aitchison Johnston (1882–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hunter-james-aitchison-johnston-6770/text11707, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 19 June 2018.</ref>

A later merger between the two parties' successors, the Liberal and National parties, gave birth to the [[Liberal National Party of Queensland]] in 2008.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|last=Green|first=Antony|author-link=Antony Green |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-07-30/the-liberal-national-party---a-new-model-party/457812 |title=The Liberal-National Party - a new model party? |work=ABC News |date=2008-07-30 |access-date=2018-06-20}}</ref>

==Election results==

{| class=wikitable style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Election
! Leader
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Position
! Government
|-
! [[1926 Queensland state election|1926]]
| [[Arthur Edward Moore]]
| 192,043
| 48.48
| {{Composition bar|28|72|hex={{party color|Country and Progressive National Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 1
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1929 Queensland state election|1929]]
| [[Arthur Edward Moore]]
| 233,977
| 54.23
| {{Composition bar|43|72|hex={{party color|Country and Progressive National Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 15
| {{increase}} 1st
| {{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
! [[1932 Queensland state election|1932]]
| [[Arthur Edward Moore]]
| 204,158
| 45.21
| {{Composition bar|28|62|hex={{party color|Country and Progressive National Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 15
| {{decrease}} 2nd
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
! [[1935 Queensland state election|1935]]
| [[Arthur Edward Moore]]
| 156,325
| 33.80
| {{Composition bar|16|62|hex={{party color|Country and Progressive National Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 12
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[Liberal National Party of Queensland|Liberal National Party]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Country and Progressive National Party}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Defunct Australian political parties}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in Queensland]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1925]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1936]]
[[Category:1925 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:1936 disestablishments in Australia]]