there were renewed calls for the two rural parties to reunify. in august 1984 a seventeen-point plan was agreed by both parties and on 2 october 1984 the two party organisations formally unified under the name "national party of western australia". however the two parliamentary parties remained as separate entities because the three sitting national country party mlas (dick old, bert crane and peter jones) refused to work with cowan and stephens. on 29 january 1985 the parliamentary national country party was formally dissolved. the sitting mlcs joined the national party, however all three sitting mlas refused to accept the merger and instead joined the liberal party.