CountryMinded was an

Australian political party The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia. Federally, 12 of the 151 members of the lower house ( ...

formed in 2014 that claimed to represent the interests of regional Australians whose livelihoods depend either directly or indirectly on agricultural production. The party was founded by a group of people looking for accountable regional representation, including two brothers from

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, David and Peter Mailler as the Country Party of Australia, and changed its name to CountryMinded in September 2015. In 2018, the party merged with the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

History

Peter Mailler stood as lead

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candidate for

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian populist political party in Australia that advocates for agrarian socialist economic policies and conservative social policies. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former National ...

in New South Wales at the 2013 Australian election and is also a former chair of Grain Producers Australia. CountryMinded was formed (as the Country Party of Australia) in response to perceived lack of attention to rural issues in the Australian political process, and dissatisfaction with how the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

represents regional Australians. The party was registered in time to contest the 2016 federal election. It announced that it had reached the required 500 members in January 2016, and submitted the application for registration on 3 March 2016. Registration was confirmed on 12 April 2016. On 2 February 2018, the

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issued a notice that it was considering deregistering the party on the grounds that it had ceased to have at least 500 members. On 8 May 2018, CountryMinded was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission for that reason. Soon after the party was deregistered, the organisation merged with the

. The merged entity subsequently registered and unsuccessfully contested a few Senate seats in the

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and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

federal elections.

Ideology

The party described itself as non-aligned, rural, and independent. CountryMinded was founded on assertion of the fundamental importance of agriculture as the key sustainable foundation of society.

2015 state elections

CountryMinded did not contest the

2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a seco ...

. It endorsed several independent candidates in the 2015 NSW state election as the Country Party of Australia. In February 2015 the party, though still unregistered, announced Ron Pike, a former National Party member, would run as a Country Party candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

in the 2015 NSW state election. Three other candidates endorsed by the party stood for the Legislative Assembly, although they were listed as independents on the ballot paper. David Mailler contested the seat of Northern Tablelands,

Helen Dalton Helen Jennifer Dalton is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since March 2019, representing the electoral district of Murray as an independent. Since her election Dalton has been a vocal cr ...

stood in the seat of Murray, and Paul Funnell, a

City of Wagga Wagga City of Wagga Wagga is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga is Councillor, Cr. Dallas Tout, an Independent politician, indepen ...

councillor, contested the seat of Wagga Wagga. Pike plus 13 others formed a group for the

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, however a group of 15 is required to have a box for voters to vote "above the line". The candidate descriptions did not claim to represent the Country Party of Australia, but three of the candidates in "Group V" (Ron Pike, Pete Mailler, and Julie Pike) nominated the www.yourcountryparty.info website.

Results

None of the candidates endorsed by the Country Party were elected. Helen Dalton placed second in

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

with 18.48% of votes to

Adrian Piccoli Adrian Piccoli (; born 24 March 1970) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Murray in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, and the district of Murrumbidgee from 1999 to 2015. He was ...

(who had been the member for Murrumbidgee before the redistribution). Piccoli had beaten Dalton for

National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. Traditionally represe ...

preselection in May 2014, before Dalton ran as an independent. Paul Funnell was third in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

behind Liberal and

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party candidates. David Mailler was beaten by both the Nationals and Country Labor candidates in

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

as well.

2016 Federal election

CountryMinded fielded two

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

candidates and one candidate in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in each of Queensland and New South Wales in the 2016 federal election. David Mailler placed sixth of ten candidates with 1.41% in the

Division of New England The Division of New England is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the states and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was o ...

, and Luke Arbuckle placed seventh of eight candidates with 2.38% in the

Division of Maranoa The Division of Maranoa is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in Queensland. Maranoa extends across the Outback, Southern Outback and is Social conservatism, socially conservative. It is the ...

. The senate candidates drew a total of 0.07% of first preferences in New South Wales and 0.10% in Queensland. Peter Mailler represented the party at the

2017 New England by-election A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of New England was held on 2 December 2017. Previous incumbent Barnaby Joyce, serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader from February 2016 until October 2017 when his ...

and placed sixth of 17 candidates with 2.4% of the vote.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 2014 establishments in Australia Agrarian parties in Australia Political parties established in 2014 Political parties disestablished in 2018 Defunct political parties in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia