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In Australia n politics, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) is the Northern Territory equivalent to the Liberal and National parties. The CLP's Federal representatives (currently, the party has one Senator , Nigel Scullion , and one MP , Dave Tollner ) sit with the National and Liberal parties in the Australian Parliament as part of the Coalition . Until the major change of 2001, the CLP was closely associated with Territorians of European descent, while the ALP was associated with those of Aboriginal descent. This affected the way these groups were treated at both a Territory and Federal government level. HISTORY In 1966 , the Country Party was well established in the territory, while the Liberal Party was small. In recognition of this, the local Liberals supported the Country candidate for the sole NT seat from 1966 to 1972 . An alliance had formed, primarily against the conservatives' arch-rivals the Australian Labor Party (ALP). After the 1974 Federal Election and subsequent Joint Sitting Of Parliament , legislation was passed which awarded self-government to the Northern Territory in the form of a Unicameral Legislative Assembly , as well as members with full voting rights at a federal level. The local Country and Liberal Party members decided to form an independent "Country Liberal Party" (CLP) to field candidates for the Assembly. In 1979 , the CLP formally affiliated with both the Liberal Party and the then-National Country Party. These affiliations remain to this day, and relationships with both parties is close. However, the CLP has had no major opportunities to sway the actions of either. At the 2001 NT Election , the CLP lost control of the Territory government in a landslide loss, to the ALP. The loss marked a major turning point in Northern Territory politics, a result which was exacerbated when, at the 2005 NT Election , the ALP won a second landslide victory, reducing the once-dominant CLP to a total of just four members in the Legislative Assembly. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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