Back National Labor Party German National Labor Party English Partido Nacional Laborista Spanish Parti travailliste national (Australie) French Partito Laburista Nazionale (Australia) Italian Narodowa Partia Pracy (Australia) Polish
National Labor Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Billy Hughes |
| Founded | 14 November 1916 |
| Dissolved | 17 February 1917 |
| Preceded by | pro-conscription Labor |
| Succeeded by | Nationalist Party of Australia |
| Ideology | Social democracy Nationalism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
The National Labor Party was an Australian political party which only existed for three months. It was started by Prime Minister Billy Hughes in November 1916. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Prime Minister when Andrew Fisher resigned in 1915. Hughes formed the new party after he was forced out of the ALP a month after conscription was rejected by the people in the 1916 vote. Hughes still wanted conscription for World War I.
On 15 September 1916, the Labor Party in New South Wales forced Hughes from the Labor Party. On 14 November 1916, Hughes and 24 other Labor members walked out of a meeting of the Labor members of parliament. The remaining 43 members said they did not want Hughes to continue as their leader. Hughes and his followers formed a minority Government with support from the Commonwealth Liberal Party (CLP) led by Joseph Cook. They said the Australian Labor Party was no longer nationalist. They wanted a new party that would be both socially radical and nationalist.
The National Labor Party had to depend on support from the Commonwealth Liberal Party to govern. In 1917, the two groups joined to form a new party, the Nationalist Party of Australia, with Hughes as leader.
The National Labor Party was never a proper political party. It did not have any organisational structure. It did get support from some trade union officials and Labor Party branches, particularly in Western Australia and Tasmania.