John Howard/Ian Sinclair Coalition Agreement, 15 April 1987
(Chapter 7, p. 94)
We believe the maintenance of an effective Coalition between the Liberal Party and the National Party is still the best vehicle to defeat the Hawke Labor Party thus leading to the implementation of policies which will benefit all Australians.
Although our two Parties are separate and distinct entities and will remain so, their goals and objectives have much in common.
The Federal Coalition has been one of the great success stories of Australian politics. The present threat to that Coalition comes from the Queensland Branch of the National Party whose unilateral action is not in accordance with resolutions of the New South Wales and Victorian Party organisations nor that by the Federal Council in the run down to the next election.
It is also relevant to note that the last annual conference of the Queensland National Party endorsed a continuation of the existing Federal Coalition arrangement.
It is the desire of the overwhelming majority of the members of both our Parliamentary Parties that the Coalition arrangements continue. As a consequence of the resolution of the Management Committee of the Queensland National Party it is necessary to establish an altered basis on which the Coalition might continue.
We believe the following can be a proper and honourable basis on which the Coalition can operate:
(i) The Coalition shall comprise 73 Liberals and a minimum of 14 members of the National Party.
(ii) Representation in the Shadow Ministry will reflect the numerical inputs to the Coalition from the two Parties.
(iii) There will be Coalition policies for the forthcoming election. All members of the Coalition are bound to support those policies in the normal way.
(iv) Arrangements regarding endorsements, three cornered contests, etc., will continue to be entirely a matter for the respective State organisations of the two Parties as in the past.
(v) Joint Party meetings will continue as in the past with Liberals and Coalition Nationals only attending those meetings.
(vi) Separate meetings of the Liberal Party will be held as in the past.
(vii) Regular meetings of the Coalition Nationals will replace normal meetings of the full Parliamentary National Party.
(viii) Full meetings of the Parliamentary National Party will only be held in special cases, eg: internal Party ballots.
(ix) There will be no joint policy development between Coalition and non-Coalition Nationals.
(x) Non-Coalition Nationals will be welcome to rejoin the joint Party room on the basis of their supporting the Coalition and Coalition policies.
(xi) The Parliamentary Leaders of the two Parties will do all in their power to secure the honouring by their respective Parliamentary Parties of any arrangements concluded between State organisations of the two Parties concerning three cornered contests.