The Liberal Reform Party was an Australian political party, active in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 state politics between 1901 and 1916. The question of tariff policy which, had created and divided the Free Trade Party

Free Trade Party

The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...

 and Protectionist Party

Protectionist Party

The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...

 in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time of federation

Federation of Australia

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

. Deprived of their main ideological difference, the two parties were recreated as the Liberal Reform Party aligned with the federal Free Trade Party and the Progressive Party aligned with the federal Protectionist Party. The Progressive Party's vote collapsed at the 1904 election and many of its members then joined the Liberal Reform Party. Protestant and Temperance groups tended to support the party. Although at federal level the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party "fused" into the Commonwealth Liberal Party

Commonwealth Liberal Party

The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....

 in 1909, the Liberal Reform Party remained the state anti-Labor party until the formation of the Nationalist Ministry

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

 of William Holman

William Holman

William Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...

 in 1916.

The party's leaders were: Sir Joseph Carruthers

Joseph Carruthers

Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.According to Percival Serle, few premiers of New South Wales succeeded in doing so much distinguished work...

 from 1901 to 1907 and Sir Charles Wade

Charles Wade

Sir Charles Gregory Wade KCMG was Premier of New South Wales 2 October 1907 – 21 October 1910. According to Percival Serle, "Wade was a public-spirited man of high character...

 from 1907 to 1916. They both served terms as Premier.