An Australian political party largely representing rural interests. Farmers’ representatives were elected to colonial (later state) parliaments from the 1890s onwards. A number of farmers’ candidates who had been elected to the Federal Parliament formed the Country Party of Australia in 1916. It has governed federally in coalition with the Nationalist Party (1923–29), the United Australia Party (1934–39; 1940–41), and the Liberal Party (1949–72; 1975–83; 1996–2007; 2013– ). Several of its parliamentary leaders have been Prime Ministers, albeit briefly. They were Earle Page (1939), Arthur William Fadden (1941), and John McEwen (1967–68). It has also governed (under various names), mostly in coalition with other parties, for periods in most states. The party’s national name was changed to the National Country Party in 1975 and to the National Party of Australia in 1982.