The Nationals South Australia
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| The Nationals SA | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Karlene Maywald |
| Founded | ? |
| Office | 6-8 Crush Terrace WAIKERIE SA 5330 |
| Political Ideology | Conservatism |
| Website | The Nationals SA |
The Nationals SA are a sub-division of the National Party of Australia. First contesting the 1965 elections, the party has only held two seats at alternating periods; Peter Blacker (1973-1993) in Flinders and Karlene Maywald (1997-current) in Chaffey, who is currently in an informal ALP-NAT coalition as Minister for various portfolios.
Deb Thiele, the lead candidate in the upper house at the 2006 state election was preselected to challenge Patrick Secker in the federal lower house division of Barker at the upcoming late 2007 federal election but won only ten percent of the vote. The party stated before the election that if she had been elected, she would have been within the formal federal LIB-NAT coalition and stand by Mark Vaile.[1]
[edit] History
As the Liberal and Country League (the predecessor to the South Australian Liberal Party of Australia) descended from a historical merger from an earlier Country Party, the SA Nationals are not as dominant in rural areas as their eastern state counterparts. Karlene Maywald has been the MP for Chaffey since 1997 and The National SA's parliamentary leader. She was re-elected at the 2002 and 2006 state elections (three other candidates were fielded in Flinders, Finniss, and MacKillop), announcing that she would support whichever party won government, which happened to be a landslide to the Australian Labor Party. Maywald became a minister in the Rann government during the last term of government and has a signed agreement with Mike Rann and the Australian Labor Party for reserving the right to not vote with the government, whilst at the same time becoming the Minister for the River Murray amongst other portfolios to the benefit of her constituency. Positions accepted were Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Small Business, and later Minister for Water Security.[2] This informal ALP-NAT coalition (the first since 1935) caused uproar, with Christopher Pyne calling for Maywald's expulsion from the Nationals and Patrick Secker calling for a corruption enquiry in to the appointment - neither eventuated.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Message from The Leader. The Nationals South Australia. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ SA Labor deal promises Nats Cabinet position. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (15 March 2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ SA Govt recruits National Party MP. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (23 July 2004). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
[edit] External links
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