United Australia Party – Queensland

The United Australia Party was the short-lived Queensland branch of the national United Australia Party in the 1930s and 1940s. Based around Brisbane, it spent the entire of its history in opposition, merging in 1941 into the Country-National Organisation. When that party separated in 1944, the remnants of the UAP joined the Queensland People's Party which in 1949 became the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division)

United Australia Party
LeaderHugh Russell (1936–1941)
Founded1936 (1936)
Dissolved1944 (1944)
Succeeded byQueensland People's Party
IdeologyLiberalism (Australian)
Fiscal conservatism
Economic nationalism
Political positionCentre-right

History

Although the federal UAP was formed in 1931 amidst a reorganisation of the right of politics, at the state level the main conservative party remained the Country and Progressive National Party which combined urban and rural forces. In 1936 the CPNP separated out, with the Brisbane section became the Queensland branch of the national UAP whilst the rural section reconstituted as the Country Party.[1] The UAP was led by Hugh Russell, the member for Hamilton, who had been the last deputy leader of the CPNP.[2] However the party had little electoral success, winning only four seats in both the 1938 and 1941 state elections. Russell himself was defeated in the 1941 election and this proved a fatal blow for the party.[3] Immediately after the election the new federal leader of the Country Party Arthur Fadden, MP for the Queensland Division of Darling Downs, sought to merge the Country and United Australia parties into a single force. Only in Queensland did this yield much success with the two parliamentary parties forming the Country-National Organisation.[4] The merger was not popular with all elements of the parties, with former federal Country MP James Hunter working hard for demerger, an aim achieved by 1944.[5] A separate UAP reappeared but this was soon absorbed into the new Queensland People's Party set up by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane John Beals Chandler.[6] In 1949 the party became the Queensland division of the Liberal Party.[7]

Election results
Election Leader Votes  % Seats +/– Position Government
1938 Hugh Russell 74,328 13.97
4 / 62
 Increase 4 Steady 3rd Opposition
1941 Hugh Russell 81,109 15.61
4 / 62
 Steady 0 Steady 3rd Opposition

See also
  • Category:United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Queensland

References
  1. Hughes, Colin A. (1980). The Government of Queensland. University of Queensland Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0702215155.
  2. Hughes, Colin A. (1980). The Government of Queensland. University of Queensland Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0702215155.
  3. Fitzgerald, Ross (1984). From 1915 to the Early 1980s: A History of Queensland. University of Queensland Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780702217340.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. John Laverty, 'Chandler, Sir John Beals (1887–1962)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chandler-sir-john-beals-9724/text17171, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 22 June 2018.
  7. Manfred Cross, 'Hiley, Sir Thomas Alfred (Tom) (1905–1990)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hiley-sir-thomas-alfred-tom-12634/text22763, published first in hardcopy 2007, accessed online 22 June 2018.

Bibliography
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