The Nationals would do well to remember they have been able to wield considerable influence in Australian politics, thanks in large part to stable leadership maintaining harmony in the Coalition.
In the early 20th century, voters in rural Australia began to organise politically for the first time – and proved crucial to the ousting of the reformist Labor government in 1913.
The farmer has long been held up in society as the ‘real Australian’, but this image ignores the role of agriculture in dispossessing Indigenous people of their lands and culture.
The formation of the Liberal-National coalition significantly changed Australian politics. But the Nationals’ influence has waned as Australia has become more urbanised.