The Australian Country Alliance is seeking to change its name to the Australian Country Party, or the Country Party for short.

The Nationals may well be irked by the move, having been founded under the banner of the Australian Country Party in 1913. But it’s been a long time since they were the Country Party, officially becoming the Nationals in 1982.

Australian Country Alliance’s policy chairman Julian Fidge said the idea to apply for a name change came up at a state conference.

Dropping the term alliance and changing the name would clarify the stand-alone status of the party, he said.

Objections can be lodged to the application but are limited to certain grievances, being that the name is more than six words long, is obscene, is not a proper abbreviation of the party, is the name of another registered political party, has the word “independent” in it, or is so close to another registered party it’s likely to be confused with that name.

Having established a new identity in 1982, the Nationals may have affection for the term Country Party but that’s no basis for a claim on it.