THE NSW Nationals have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to merge with the State Liberals, insisting their party can remain independent and relevant to the electorate.
The country-based party has used its two-day State conference in Sydney to debate the party’s future and how to modernise the Nationals brand in the 21st century.
Two branches, Armidale and Guyra, put forward a motion calling on the party to follow the lead of the Queensland Nationals and move to merge with the Liberal Party.
But, after two hours of debate, during which senior MPs threatened to quit, the proposal was rejected.
A separate motion which “totally rejects any move to amalgamate” with the Liberals was passed with overwhelming support.
NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner, his deputy Andrew Fraser and Upper House leader Duncan Gay urged delegates to vote against a merger.
Mr Gay vowed to leave the party if an amalgamation was to go ahead.
Mr Stoner said it was vital the Liberals and Nationals continued to exist as separate identities.
“I think we both need each other, that’s the strength of a coalition,” he told reporters.
“I think the Liberals know they can’t go into government without the Nationals. I think the Nationals know that as long as we remain a purely country-focused party we’re not going to have the numbers to go into government, either.”
NSW Nationals treasurer Bryan Pape led the merger calls, saying the party must change because “the world has moved on”.
“To go back to the past and carry on as we have will be an electoral disaster,” he told the conference.
“The fact of the matter is that we cannot fund-raise, we’ve got declining membership.”
Former federal Nationals leader John Anderson urged his party to delay any decision until after the release of his review of the
organisation.
Mr Anderson, a former deputy prime minister, is looking at all options for the party ranging from merging with the Liberals to splitting from the Coalition and sitting on the cross-benches.
Federal Nationals Leader Warren Truss said it was important that the party looked to the future and did not rest on past glories.
“Our review should not just be about marinating traditions and honouring the past or glorying in what we have achieved,” he said in his address to the conference.
“It must be about the future.”
The Anderson review is expected to be released in a month.