George Christensen MP slams ‘faceless’ LNP bigwigs, says ‘radical change’ needed in party as convention looms

OUTGOING Queensland MP George Christensen has thrown a grenade at his own party, slamming the “faceless men and women” of the LNP state executive for reeking of “incompetency”.

OUTGOING Queensland MP George Christensen has thrown a grenade at his own party, slamming the “faceless men and women” of the LNP state executive for reeking of “incompetency”.

With days to go until a pivotal LNP convention, retiring Dawson MP Mr Christensen has laid bare “some home truths” about his own party and called for “radical change” as he responded to revelations a much needed reform may not happen.

It was revealed this week that under sweeping changes proposed for the party’s constitution the LNP’s powerful President’s Committee won’t be dismantled, like state leader David Crisafulli wants.

Federal Member for Dawson George Christensen. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

Rather the party’s state parliamentary leader and two regional chairs would be put on the committee.

Describing the committee as “totally dictatorial”, Mr Christensen indicated abolishing it was one of the party’s “most needed reforms” and suggested a demerger of the party be considered.

At the heart of Mr Christensen’s criticism against the LNP was the party executive’s “huge disconnect” from the rank and file.

“Our grassroots members are tired of being cannon fodder, volunteering in the hot sun from dawn to dusk on polling day, manning market stalls, door knocking and the like,” he said in a post to social media.

“(All) while the party management reeks of incompetency, notching up state election loss after state election loss.

“Some of the faceless men running the LNP were in control before I entered federal parliament 11 years ago and yet, despite those state election losses, they were still in control of the party until this year.”

Mr Christensen said “the reality” of the Queensland LNP’s success at a federal level was incumbency and the hard work of electorate offices “rather than the party machine”.

The comments come after Mr Christensen, when announcing his retirement at the next election, warned he would not be going quietly now he was free of the burden of re-election.

He said the merger of the Queensland Liberals and the Nationals had made the party “very introspective, very dictatorial” and “very intolerant of any form of criticism”.

Mr Christensen also alleged the party “bigwigs” had barred people from joining the party because they were deemed “too conservative or too Christian”, a move the MP said was “bizarre” considering the rank and file were “overwhelmingly” conservative and Christian.

“Something needs to change, radically and soon,” he said.

“The party needs to give the power back to its grassroots members, it needs to embrace conservatives and Christians who want to join its ranks, and it needs to start listening more to its rural and regional membership when forming policies.”

Originally published as George Christensen MP slams ‘faceless’ LNP bigwigs, says ‘radical change’ needed in party as convention looms