National Liberal Union

The National Liberal Union of Queensland, also referred to simply as the Liberals, was an Australian protectionist organisation that was active in the early 1900s.[1] It endorsed candidates at elections and provided extra-parliamentary support for anti-Labour politics.[2]

National Liberal Union
AbbreviationNLU
FoundedAugust 1901
Dissolved1909
Preceded byQueensland Political Association
Succeeded byLiberal Party
IdeologyProtectionism
Liberalism
National affiliationProtectionist Party

History

The NLU was formed in August 1901, as a successor to the Queensland Political Association.[3]

In 1902, Protectionist Party leader Alfred Deakin said in a letter to The Morning Post, a London newspaper, that "Ministerial forces were best under control" in southern Queensland through the NLU.[4]

As the Protectionists were not active in Queensland at the time, the NLU endorsed candidates in the House of Representatives and Senate for the 1903 federal election.[5][6] Two NLU MPs were elected, but none of the organisation's three senate candidates were successful.[5]

The NLU remained active for a number of years, although they were largely replaced by the Anti-Socialist Party at the 1906 federal election.[1] The only Protectionist candidate in Queensland was Darling Downs MP Littleton Groom, however by that time he did not appear to be linked to the NLU anymore.[7]

Herbert Beaumont Marks served as the party's secretary for its Townsville branch in 1909.[2] The NLU faded away around that time, which is when the Liberal Party was formed out of a 'fusion' of the Protectionists and Anti-Socialists.[8]

References
  1. "National Liberal Union of Queensland". Trove. Morning Post.
  2. "The Townsville Chamber of Commerce Jubilee Brochure, 1882–19321" (PDF). p. 2.
  3. "THE POLITICS OF EXPEDIENCY QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT IN THE EIGHTEEN-NINETIES" (PDF).
  4. "Alfred Deakin's letters to the London Morning Post". Trove. p. 59.
  5. "COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 16 DECEMBER 1903". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive.
  6. "NATIONAL LIBERAL UNION". Trove. The Brisbane Courier.
  7. "COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 12 DECEMBER 1906". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive.
  8. "Federal Fusion. Conference Between Leaders". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 May 1909.
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