Tim Fischer was an extraordinarily popular leader of the party that has, since 1919, represented the political aspirations and interests of those Australians who live outside major urban areas – the National Party (which was originally called the Country Party until 1975, then became the National Country Party until it took its present name in 1982). Fischer's inherent decency as a human being – a rare quality in politics – and his eccentricity (a second-to-none knowledge of train timetables, for example) meant that in his southern New South Wales electorate of Farrer he was nigh on unbeatable. But when Tim Fischer departed the political scene at the 2001 election, his popularity departed with him. His seat – held for the National Party since 1984 – is now occupied by a Liberal Party MP. The loss of Fischer's seat was seen by some commentators as another sign that the National Party was in permanent decline as a political force, in no small part because the Liberal Party was mercilessly undermining its traditional Coalition partner by running candidates in seats against the Nationals. Over the border from Fischer's old seat, the Liberal Party beat the Nationals to retain Indi, in northeastern Victoria, in the same election.

One of Australia's leading National Party analysts is Monash University's Brian Costar. In the aftermath of the 2001 federal election, Costar set out the bare facts of the Nationals' predicament.