{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox political party | colorcode = {{party color|Commonwealth Liberal}} | name = Kidstonites | logo = | leader1_title = Leader | leader = William Kidston | foundation = May 1907 | dissolution = October 1908 | merged = Liberals | ideology = Interventionism<br />Social democracy | international = | country = Australia }}
The '''Kidstonites''', also known as the '''Kidston Party''', was a political party in the Australian state of Queensland in 1907 to 1908, formed by William Kidston. The party resulted from a split in the Queensland Labor Party and spent most of its existence in government, before merging with the conservative faction of Robert Philp in October 1908, to form the Liberal Party.
==History== In 1903, Queensland's long-running Continuous Ministry fell and was replaced by a coalition of liberals and Labor. The government was headed by Arthur Morgan and included two Labor members, though not the party leaders.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kirkpatrick |first=Rod |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/morgan-sir-arthur-7652 |title=Sir Arthur Morgan |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2018-07-01|chapter=Morgan, Sir Arthur (1856–1916) }}</ref><ref name=murphy>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Murphy |first=Denis Joseph |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Denis Joseph |encyclopedia=Labor in Politics: the state Labor parties in Australia 1880-1920 |title=Queensland |date=1975 |publisher=University of Queensland Press |isbn=9780702209390 |pages=168–169}}</ref> In 1906, Morgan was succeeded as Premier by William Kidston, one of the Labor members of the government. However, Kidston grew increasingly dissatisfied with the official direction of the Labor Party as set by the 1905 party convention on the issues of collective ownership and Crown land sales, which he felt to be impractical and electorally unrealistic.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book|author=D. J. Murphy |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kidston-william-6949 |title=William Kidston |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2018-07-01|chapter=Kidston, William (1849–1919)}}</ref>
The 1906 federal election saw Labor do badly in Queensland at the hands of the Anti-Socialist Party, confirming Kidston's views as conflict grew between pursuing an efficient reformist government and the pursuit of Labor's stated interests and ideology.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bolton |first=G.C. |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Denis Joseph |editor2-last=Joyce |editor2-first=Roger Bilbrough |encyclopedia=Queensland Political Portraits 1859-1952 |title=Robert Philp: Capitalist as Politician |date=1978 |publisher=University of Queensland Press |isbn=9780702211270 |page=213}}</ref> Kidston demanded greater loyalty to himself but the 1907 party convention reaffirmed the socialist objective, resulting in a split.<ref name=murphy/>{{rp|173}}<ref name=wanka>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Wanka |first=K.J. |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Denis Joseph |editor2-last=Joyce |editor2-first=Roger Bilbrough |editor3-last=Hughes |editor3-first=Colin A. |encyclopedia=Prelude to Power: The Rise of the Labour Party in Queensland 1885-1915 |title=William Kidston - The Dilemma of the Powerful Leader |date=1970 |publisher=Jacaranda Press |isbn=9780701603120 |page=205}}</ref>
All but fourteen members of the Labor parliamentary party rallied to Kidston's banner, and in the 1907 state election, the Kidstonites won twenty-four seats. Because neither they nor Labor nor Robert Philp's Conservative group had a majority, a three-party system operated in the state over the next two years, with no party able to govern alone.<ref name=murphy/>{{rp|173–4}} Kidston secured some support from Labor on common issues, but the conservative Queensland Legislative Council obstructed much legislation.<ref name=wanka/>{{rp|205–206}} Kidston tried to appoint more supportive members to the council but the Governor of Queensland Lord Chelmsford refused, leading to Kidston's resignation. Philp formed a government which was promptly denied supply by parliament, and was forced to a new election in February 1908 at which the balance in the parliament was barely altered.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite book|author=W. Ross Johnston |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/philp-sir-robert-8040 |title=Sir Robert Philp |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2018-07-01|chapter=Philp, Sir Robert (1851–1922) }}</ref>
Kidston resumed office and, with the support of Labor, passed reforms including the Parliamentary Bills Referendum Act, which allowed for bills blocked repeatedly in the Council to be submitted to a referendum. Other legislation passed involved pensions, wages boards and electoral reform, but the alliance with Labor came to an end, and later bills, such as to allow private railway construction, were passed with the support of Philp's Conservatives.<ref name=wanka/>{{rp|206}} Increasingly, the Kidstonites and the Conservatives were drawn together and, in October 1908, they merged,<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="autogenerated2"/> reviving the name Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Colin A. |date=1980 |title=The Government of Queensland |publisher=University of Queensland Press |page=30 |isbn=978-0702215155 }}</ref> Not all Kidstonite parliamentarians accepted the merger, and a group called the "Independent Opposition" emerged, headed by former Attorney General James Blair, which included former Labor leaders Peter Airey and George Kerr.<ref>{{cite book|author=J. C. H. Gill |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blair-sir-james-william-5266 |title=Sir James William Blair |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2018-07-01|chapter=Blair, Sir James William (1870–1944) }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sullivan |first=Martin |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/airey-peter-4984 |title=Peter Airey |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2018-07-01|chapter=Airey, Peter (1865–1950) }}</ref>
==Election results== {| class=wikitable style="text-align: right;" |- ! Election ! Leader ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/– ! Position ! Government |- ! 1907 | William Kidston | 62,898 | 31.88 | {{Composition bar|24|72|hex={{party color|Commonwealth Liberal}}}} | {{decrease}} 7 | {{decrease}} 2nd | style="background:#ccf;"|Minority government |- ! 1908 | William Kidston | 46,848 | 25.03 | {{Composition bar|25|72|hex={{party color|Commonwealth Liberal}}}} | {{increase}} 1 | {{increase}} 1st | style="background:#ccf;"|Minority government |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Colin A. |date=1980 |title=The Government of Queensland |publisher=University of Queensland Press |isbn=978-0702215155 }} * {{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Denis Joseph |editor2-last=Joyce |editor2-first=Roger Bilbrough |editor3-last=Hughes |editor3-first=Colin A. |title=Prelude to Power: The Rise of the Labour Party in Queensland 1885-1915 |date=1970 |publisher=Jacaranda Press |isbn=9780701603120 }} * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Murphy |first=Denis Joseph |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Denis Joseph |title=Labor in Politics: the state Labor parties in Australia 1880-1920 |date=1975 |publisher=University of Queensland Press |isbn=9780702209390 |pages=127–228}}
Category:Defunct political parties in Queensland Category:Australian Labor Party breakaway groups Category:Political parties established in 1907 Category:Political parties disestablished in 1908 Category:1907 establishments in Australia Category:1908 disestablishments in Australia