The Liberal Party of Australia (Liberals, or LIB for short), in coalition with the National Party of Australia (Nationals, or NAT for short), is one of the two main political groups in Australian politics (the other being the Social Democratic Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberals/Nationals are the more conservative of the two main parties. It was founded by Sir Robert Menzies in 1944. They lost government to the ALP in the Australian federal election held on 24 November 2007. This was after 11 years in government under the previous Liberal leader, John Howard. The current Liberal leader is Scott Morrison. The Liberal/National coalition is currently in control in the Federal Parliament of Australia after beating the ALP during an election on 7 September 2013.

Liberal Prime Ministers of Australia

 
 
 
 

 Robert Menzies - from 1949 until his resignation in 1966.
 Harold Holt - from 1966 until his death in 1967.
 John Gorton - from 1968 until his resignation 1971.
 William McMahon - from 1971 until his loss to Gough Whitlam (ALP) in the 1972 election.
 Malcolm Fraser - from his appointment following the Dismissal of Gough Whitlam in 1975 until his defeat by Bob Hawke (ALP) in 1983.
 John Howard - from his victory over Paul Keating in 1996 to his defeat by Kevin Rudd (ALP) in 2007.
 Tony Abbott - from his victory over Kevin Rudd in 2013.
 Malcolm Turnbull - from replacing Abbott in 14 September 2015 to his resignation in 24 August 2018.
 Scott Morrison - from replacing Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party in 24 August 2018.

Federal Parliamentary Leaders of the Liberal Party of Australia
 Sir Robert Menzies February 1945 to 26 January 1966
 Harold Holt 26 January 1966 to 19 December 1967
 Sir John Gorton 10 January 1968 to 10 March 1971
 Sir William McMahon 10 March 1971 to 5 December 1972
 Sir Billy Snedden December 1972 to March 1975 
 Malcolm Fraser March 1975 to 11 March 1983
 Andrew Peacock March 1983 to September 1985
 John Howard September 1985 to May 1989
 Andrew Peacock May 1989 to March 1990
 John Hewson April 1990 to May 1994
 Alexander Downer May 1994 to January 1995
 John Howard 30 January 1995 to 27 November 2007
 Brendan Nelson 29 November 2007 to 16 September 2008
 Malcolm Turnbull 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009
 Tony Abbott 1 December 2009-14 September 2015
 Malcolm Turnbull 14 September 2015-24 August 2018
 Scott Morrison since 24 August 2018

Current Liberal leaders of States and Territories

 Chief Minister of the Northern Territory: Willem Westra van Holte³, since February 2015.
 Premier of Tasmania: Peter Gutwein since 2014. 
 Premier of New South Wales: Gladys Berejiklian, since 2014.  . 
²In Queensland the Liberal and National parties merged into the Liberal National Party of Queensland
³In the Northern Territory the party is called the Country Liberal Party.

Other notable Liberals
 Enid Lyons - first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives (for the UAP), then served as a Liberal from 1944-1951 and was appointed by Robert Menzies as the first woman to sit in the Australian Cabinet.
 Neville Bonner as Senator for Queensland, he became the first Indigenous Australian to sit in the Federal Parliament.
 Nick Greiner - Premier of New South Wales, 1988-1992.
 Jeff Kennett - Premier of Victoria, 1992-1999.
 Cate Carnell - Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, 1995-2000, and first Liberal woman to lead a state or territory.
 Peter Costello - Australia's longest serving Treasurer (1996-2007).
 Alexander Downer - Australia's longest serving Minister for Foreign Affairs (1996-2007).
 Ken Wyatt - first Aboriginal member of the Australian House of Representatives (2010-)

References

Liberal parties
 
1945 establishments
1940s establishments in Australia