The Liberal Reform Party was an Australian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, active in

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 ...

state politics between 1901 and 1916. It drew much of its support from

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and Temperance groups.

History

The question of

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

policy which, had created and divided the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party (FTP), officially known as the Free Trade and Liberal Association and also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party. It was formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, in ...

and

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...

in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time of

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. Deprived of their main ideological difference, the two parties were recreated as the Liberal Reform Party, aligned with the federal Free Trade Party, and the Progressive Party, aligned with the federal

. The Progressive Party's vote collapsed at the 1904 election and many of its members then joined the Liberal Reform Party. By 1907, the Liberal Reform Party was left as the main centre-right party in New South Wales. In 1916, the Liberal Reform Party formed a coalition with the pro-

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

elements of the state Labor Party under Premier William Holman. In 1917, Liberal Reform merged with the pro-conscription elements of Labor to form the New South Wales branch of the

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed in February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party, Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by ...

. As was the case with the federal Nationalists, the new party was dominated by former Liberal Reformers, but Holman was the merged party's leader.

Leaders

State election results

References

{{New South Wales political parties Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in New South Wales Political parties established in 1901 Political parties disestablished in 1916 1901 establishments in Australia 1916 disestablishments in Australia