The National Party of Australia (also known as The Nationals or simply, The Nats) is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and rural voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party, and then adopted the name the National Country Party in 1975. The party's name was changed to the National Party of Australia in 1982, and it is now commonly referred to as "The Nationals". Federally, and in New South Wales, and to an extent in Victoria and historically in Western Australia, it has, in government, been the minor party in a centre-right Coalition with the Liberal Party of Australia, and its leader has usually served as Deputy Prime Minister. In Opposition it has worked in formal coalition or separately, but generally in co-operation with the Liberal Party (and, historically, the Liberal Party's antecedents, the Nationalist Party and United Australia Party). However, the National Party was the major coalition party in Queensland between 1925 and 2008, when it merged with the junior Queensland Division of the Liberal Party of Australia to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP).