In federal Australian politics, the conservative Liberal, National, Country Liberal and Liberal National parties are united in a coalition, known simply as the Coalition.

In 1967 the Holt government made the historic decision not to depreciate the Australian dollar in line with Britain's depreciation of the pound sterling, a custom that Australia had previously always followed, but this decision created considerable dissent within the Coalition ; Country Party leader John McEwen was particularly angered by the move — he saw it as a threat to Australia's balance of payments and feared that it would lead to increased production costs for primary industry.

In the chapter on Vietnam in The Frightened Country, his 1979 book on Australian foreign policy, Renouf bluntly suggested that Holt was in effect " seduced " by Johnson, and notes that the Johnson administration criticized the Holt government for not doing enough and repeatedly pressured Australia to increase its troop commitment in Vietnam.

This was the period of the Country Party's greatest power, as was demonstrated in 1962 when McEwen was able to insist that Menzies sack a Liberal Minister who claimed that Britain's entry into the European Economic Community was unlikely to severely impact on the Australian economy as a whole.

However, the party split in two over the decision in late 1978, with a new National Party forming and becoming independent, holding three seats in the Western Australian lower house, while the National Country Party remained in coalition and also held three seats.

No " Country " or rural conservative parties emerged as serious long-term forces in South Australian state politics, often folding in to the non-Labor party.

Later, daytime slots were filled with an influx of older Australian soap operas such as The Young Doctors, The Sullivans, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice, Richmond Hill and eventually, Neighbours and Home and Away.

A feature film version of Bellbird entitled Country Town was produced in 1971 not by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation but by two of the show's stars, Gary Gray and Terry McDermott.

* January 22 – The Australian Country Party is officially formed, led by Nelson Pollard.

At the time, the Country Liberal Party had held office for the 27 years since self-government, and the Australian Labor Party had never come particularly close to government.

The Australian High Country is populated by unique flora and fauna including wombats, wallabies, echidnas, and the Snow Gum ..

Waltzing Matilda, often regarded by foreigners as Australia's unofficial national anthem, is a quintessential Australian country song, influenced more by Celtic folk ballads than by American Country and Western music.

The last was serialised for Australian television in 1981, as was, a little later, The Far Country.

The Australian novels are individual hymns to that country, with subtle disparagement of the mores of the USA ( Beyond the Black Stump ) and overt antipathy towards the post World War II socialist government of Shute's native Britain ( The Far Country and In the Wet ).

Songs written by Tench and recorded by other artists include " You Little Thief ", a top 5 UK and Australian hit for Feargal Sharkey in 1985, ( written about his affair with Maria McKee, in response to her song " A Good Heart ") and " Never Be You " ( co-written with Petty ), which became a # 1 US Country hit for Rosanne Cash, also in 1985.

A new party, the Country Party ( now the National Party ), was formed, representing farmers who were discontented with the Nationalists ' rural policies, in particular Hughes ' acceptance of a much higher level of tariff protection for Australian industries ( that had expanded during the war ) and his support for price controls on rural produce.

His Prime Ministerial predecessor and 1943 election Coalition leader, Arthur Fadden of the Country Party wrote: " I do not care who knows it but in my opinion there was no greater figure in Australian public life in my lifetime than Curtin.

Dennis wrote in the Australian vernacular with such works as The Sentimental Bloke, while McKellar wrote the iconic patriotic poem My Country which rejected prevailing fondness for England's " green and shaded lanes " and declared: " I love a sunburnt country ".

Novelists of classic Australian works include Marcus Clarke ( For the Term of His Natural Life ), Rolf Boldrewood ( Robbery Under Arms ), Miles Franklin ( My Brilliant Career ), Mary Durack ( Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country ) and Jeannie Gunn ( We of the Never Never ).

Slim Dusty ( 1927 – 2003 ) was known as the King of Australian Country Music.

Country music has also been a particularly popular form of musical expression among the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

* Australian National Railways-the formerly federal government owned Trans-Australia Railway, Central-Australia Railway, Country South Australia and Tasmanian Railways operator

Improved vehicular access to the High Country enabled ski-resort villages to be constructed at Thredbo and Guthega in the 1950s by ex-Snowy Scheme workers who realised the potential for expansion of the Australian ski industry.

The second single, " Suddenly ", only peaked at forty-three on the US Country charts, forty-seven on the UK charts and fifty-three on the Australian charts.

The album's first single, " Mean to Me ", reached the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart top 30 in June.

A founding member of the Speculum Musicae, he was the principal oboist for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and a founding member of the New Music Ensemble.

After Hurt's renditions of " Frankie " and " Spike Driver Blues " were included in The Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, and an Australian man discovered a copy of " Avalon Blues ", there became increased interest in finding Hurt himself.

Skyhooks had # 1 albums on the Australian Kent Music Report with their 1974 debut, Living in the 70's ( for 16 weeks ), and its 1975 follow-up, Ego Is Not a Dirty Word ( 11 weeks ).

Although no copyright applies to the song in Australia and many other countries, the Australian Olympic organisers had to pay royalties to Carl Fischer Music following the song being played at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta.

Another notable film in this period was the short rock music performance film Three Directions In Australian Pop Music ( 1972 ), which featured in-concert colour footage of three of the most significant Melbourne rock acts of the period, Spectrum, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band and Wendy Saddington.

* Australian Music Prize, annual Australian music award

Both of Hay's albums, 2007's Kiss The Sky and 2010s Deep Fried Satisfied were recorded in Katoomba, with the latter earning Hay critical acclaim and a # 1 on the Roots Music Report Australian chart and # 21 for airplay worldwide in October 2010.

Warner Music Australasia is the Australian division of the Warner Music Group.

For these first two years, the Australian Record Company ( ARC ), now known as Sony Music handled the Australian distribution.

Later that year, Warner Music Australia bought out the ailing Festival-Mushroom Records for only $ 12 million and closed the label down but retaining the use of the Mushroom label for a couple of acts like Eskimo Joe and Gabriella Cilmi ( who subsequently got signed to Island Records in the UK, one of the first Australian acts to do so ).

After launching his career as the winner of an early series of Australian Idol, soul singer / songwriter Guy Sebastian has also made an impact on this genre in Australia winning awards at the Urban Music Awards Australia and New Zealand for Best Male Artist and Best R & B Album.

Something For Kate ( or SFK as they are also known ) is one of the most popular and enduring Australian alternative / rock bands of the 1990s and 2000s, garnering nominations for 11 ARIA Music Awards throughout its career.

At the time, the Australian Recording Industry Association and the Australian Music Retailers Association were implementing a system for identifying potentially offensive records, known as the " labelling code of practice ".

In 1985 Norman was profiled in Manna Music Australia, an Australian Christian magazine.

In 2010, the band headlined the Australian Music Festival Soundwave.

College-type specialized academies include the Royal Academy of Music of the United Kingdom ; the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York ; the United States Naval Academy ; United States Air Force Academy ; and the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music.

In October 2005 Festival Mushroom Records was wound up and its trademarks and assets ( including its large archive of master recordings ) were sold to the Australian division of the Warner Music Group in a deal reported to be worth around A $ 10 million.