Senator Joyce congratulates his party, the National Party, on their 90th anniversary at a federal level.
From a party that started at a state level in 1913 in Western Australia it remains unique in its efforts to increase the standard for those living in regional Australia and to be a voice for those who cannot pay the full time lobbyists in Canberra.
The National Party, the second oldest political party in Australia, is globally unique as being the last agricultural based party.
It is now utilised by many Australians from small businesses in the western suburbs; to franchisees in the shopping malls; to pensioners in the towns; to families from the suburban streets in regional cities and always mindful of its core rural base.
If the National Party was just a name it would have long ago slipped into the history books but it is a philosophy; one that demands a voice. The National Party dedicates itself to being that voice. The philosophy is the reliance of a block of votes to leverage a position for the vast geographic mass of a nation which unfortunately represents a minority of the people. The philosophy is to give power to those on the peripheries who feel it is impolite and unnecessary to be a continual and prominent malingerer, however, they do not want to be taken advantage of either. For these people, they want a diligent and emphatic voice in our Parliament.
The National Party has been seminal in the development of the Australian political culture.
The National Party’s first federal representative was Senator William J McWilliams of Tasmania and he has been followed by other great National Party stalwarts such as Dr Earl Page, accountant Artie Fadden; the strongest Deputy Prime Minister in the history of Australia, Black Jack McEwen. In the Senate the current characters are father of the Senate and former paint brush salesman, Senator Ron Boswell, former shearer Senator John “Wakka” Williams, the Northern Territory connection through fisherman Nigel Scullion and the champion for regional farmers, Senator Fiona Nash, all continue to fight for the same issues that brought the National Party into existence. In the Lower House, National Party members continue in the tradition of a high work rate attention to their electorates. Members such as Paul Neville and his work for the people of the city of Bundaberg, John Forrest in the farming districts of the Mallee, and Darren Chester in the rural and power resource centre of Gippsland are just a few examples of the youth and experience the National Party delivers in its representation of the people of Australia. I acknowledge and concur with the remarks of Warren Truss, Leader of the Nationals, about the immense work local National Party members do.
The National Party remains a dynamic force and lately can claim amongst its wins the stopping of the ETS, a massive new tax on working families, to currently fighting for the property rights of farmers who have had the unnecessary hand of government making them poorer by stealing their assets but leaving them with the debt, to the continual work for small business to get a fair deal against the might of immense businesses and overbearing government.
Australians get a great sense of comfort knowing the National party is there; that they have the capacity to come to Canberra and be welcomed by the genuine, authentic and caring informality that the National Party culture delivers in its service to the Australian people.
The National Party never wants, or craves, the senior office of the Nation. Its forte is to accept that its principle purpose is its effective leverage on policy direction and the complexion of government.
Commentators have been talking about the demise of the National Party since 1922 and I imagine this will remain a constant, just as the National Party will remain a constant long into the future.
We are happy for our detractors to waste their time discussing our demise; it burns up their energy and distracts them, whilst our Party will get on with the hard job of assisting the people who sent us to Canberra to support them.