Election results
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | William Kidston | 62,898 | 31.88 | 24 / 72 |  | | Minority government |
| 1908 | William Kidston | 46,848 | 25.03 | 25 / 72 |  | | Minority government |
Kidstonites | |
|---|---|
| Leader | William Kidston |
| Founded | May 1907 |
| Dissolved | October 1908 |
| Merged into | Liberals |
| Ideology | Interventionism Social democracy |
The Kidstonites or Kidston party were a political party in the Australian state of Queensland in 1907 to 1908, formed by William Kidston. The party resulted from a split in the Queensland Labor Party and spent most of its existence in government, before merging with the conservative faction of Robert Philp in October 1908, to form the Liberal Party.
In 1903, Queensland's long-running Continuous Ministry fell and was replaced by a coalition of liberals and Labor. The government was headed by Arthur Morgan and included two Labor members, though not the party leaders. [1] [2] In 1906, Morgan was succeeded as Premier by William Kidston, one of the Labor members of the government. However, Kidston grew increasingly dissatisfied with the official direction of the Labor Party as set by the 1905 party convention on the issues of collective ownership and Crown land sales, which he felt to be impractical and electorally unrealistic. [3]
The 1906 federal election saw Labor do badly in Queensland at the hands of the Anti-Socialist Party, confirming Kidston's views as conflict grew between pursuing an efficient reformist government and the pursuit of Labor's stated interests and ideology. [4] Kidston demanded greater loyalty to himself but the 1907 party convention reaffirmed the socialist objective, resulting in a split. [2] :173 [5]
All but fourteen members of the Labor parliamentary party rallied to Kidston's banner, and in the 1907 state election, the Kidstonites won twenty-four seats. Because neither they nor Labor nor Robert Philp's Conservative group had a majority, a three-party system operated in the state over the next two years, with no party able to govern alone. [2] :173–4 Kidston secured some support from Labor on common issues, but the conservative Queensland Legislative Council obstructed much legislation. [5] :205–206 Kidston tried to appoint more supportive members to the council but the Governor of Queensland Lord Chelmsford refused, leading to Kidston's resignation. Philp formed a government which was promptly denied supply by parliament, and was forced to a new election in February 1908 at which the balance in the parliament was barely altered. [3] [6]
Kidston resumed office and, with the support of Labor, passed reforms including the Parliamentary Bills Referendum Act, which allowed for bills blocked repeatedly in the Council to be submitted to a referendum. Other legislation passed involved pensions, wages boards and electoral reform, but the alliance with Labor came to an end, and later bills, such as to allow private railway construction, were passed with the support of Philp's Conservatives. [5] :206 Increasingly, the Kidstonites and the Conservatives were drawn together and, in October 1908, they merged, [3] [6] reviving the name Liberal Party. [7] Not all Kidstonite parliamentarians accepted the merger, and a group called the "Independent Opposition" emerged, headed by former Attorney General James Blair, which included former Labor leaders Peter Airey and George Kerr. [8] [9]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | William Kidston | 62,898 | 31.88 | 24 / 72 | | | Minority government |
| 1908 | William Kidston | 46,848 | 25.03 | 25 / 72 | | | Minority government |
Sir Robert Philp, was a Queensland businessman and politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1899 to September 1903 and again from November 1907 to February 1908.
William Kidston was an Australian bookseller, politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911.
Digby Frank Denham was politician and businessman in Queensland, Australia. He was a Premier of Queensland and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was the first of only two Queensland Premiers to lose their own seat at a general election.
The Country and Progressive National Party was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 under the leadership of Arthur Edward Moore. Following repeated election defeat it split into separate rural and urban wings in 1936.
Sir James William Blair was an Australian politician, lawyer and judge. He was a successful politician, being elected to the Queensland Parliament on several occasions. He held the office of Attorney-General of Queensland and was also the Minister for Mines and introduced many successful law reforms measures in Queensland. In latter life, he took up an appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland and went on to become the Chief Justice of that court. Blair took on many civic roles including that of Chancellor of the University of Queensland.
This is a list of members of the 15th Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1904 to 1907, as elected at the 1904 state election held on 27 August 1904.
This is a list of members of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Queensland from May 1907 to February 1908, as elected at the 1907 state election held on 18 May 1907.
This is a list of members of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Queensland from February 1908 to October 1909, as elected at the 1908 state election held on 5 February 1908.
The Second Kidston Ministry was the 25th ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier William Kidston. It succeeded the Second Philp Ministry on 18 February 1908, 13 days after the 1908 state election. The ministry was followed by the Denham Ministry on 7 February 1911 following Kidston's retirement from politics.
The First Kidston Ministry was the 23rd ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier William Kidston, who led a Labour–Liberal coalition. It succeeded the Morgan Ministry on 19 January 1906 upon the appointment of Arthur Morgan as president of the Queensland Legislative Council. The Labour Party split in 1907, with Kidston and several other moderate Labour members combining with the remaining Liberals in a new party, the "Kidstonites".
The Second Philp Ministry was the 24th ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier Robert Philp, who led the Conservative party. It succeeded the Second Kidston Ministry on 19 November 1907 following Kidston's resignation on 12 November 1907. The Ministry lost a vote of no-confidence in the Legislative Assembly by 37 to 29 on its first day, and Philp asked for and obtained a dissolution of Parliament. At the 5 February 1908 election, the Conservative party lost seven Assembly seats including those of two of the ministers, and on 14 February Philp resigned. The Ministry formally concluded on 18 February 1908, and was succeeded by the Second Kidston Ministry.
Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 5 February 1908 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The Morgan Ministry was the 22nd ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier Arthur Morgan, who led a Liberal–Labour coalition.
The Australian Labor Party split of 1916 occurred following severe disagreement within the Australian Labor Party over the issue of proposed World War I conscription in Australia. Labor Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes had, by 1916, become an enthusiastic supporter of conscription as a means to boost Australia's contribution to the war effort. On 30 August 1916, he announced plans for a referendum on the issue, and introduced enabling legislation into parliament on 14 September, which passed only with the support of the opposition. Six of Hughes's ministers resigned in protest at the move, and the New South Wales state branch of the Labor Party expelled Hughes. The referendum saw an intense campaign in which Labor figures vehemently advocated on each side of the argument, although the "no" campaign narrowly won on 14 November. In the wake of the referendum defeat, the caucus moved to expel Hughes on 14 November; instead, he and 23 supporters resigned and formed the National Labor Party. Frank Tudor was elected leader of the rump party. Hughes was recommissioned as Prime Minister, heading a minority government supported by the opposition Commonwealth Liberal Party; the two parties then merged as the Nationalist Party of Australia and won the 1917 federal election. The Nationalist Party served as the main conservative party of Australia until 1931, and the split resulted in many early Labor figures ending their careers on the political right.
The National Party of Australia – Queensland, commonly known as The Nationals Queensland, was the Queensland state branch of the National Party of Australia until 2008. Prior to 1974, it was known as the Country Party.
The Country-National Organisation was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland during the Second World War.
The Liberal Party of Australia , branded as Liberal Queensland, was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008.
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
The National Party, later the United Party was a political party in the Australian state of Queensland from 1917 until 1925. Although allied with the federal Nationalist Party, it had different origins in state politics. It sought to combine the state's Liberal Party with the Country Party but the latter soon withdrew. In 1923 the party sought a further unification with the Country Party but only attracted a few recruits. Then in 1925 it merged with the Country Party, initially as the Country Progressive Party with a few members left out and then they were absorbed into the renamed Country and Progressive National Party.
The Liberal Party was a political party in the Australian state of Queensland in the early 20th century. It combined the main non-Labor forces, the "Kidstonites" of William Kidston and the Conservatives of Robert Philp, similar to the federal Commonwealth Liberal Party whose fusion it preceded. The Liberals held government from their formation in 1908 until defeat in 1915 after which they combined with other elements in the state to form the National Party.