You have nothing to fear, Newman tells public service

Aspiring premier Campbell Newman has told Queensland’s public servants they have “nothing to fear” from a Liberal National Party government as he officially took over as effective opposition leader.

The former Brisbane Lord Mayor today won support from the LNP party room to lead the opposition to the next election from outside Parliament, a day after securing preselection to run in the seat of Ashgrove.

Campbell Newman meets and greets MPs and candidates, while fallen deputy leader Lawrence Springborg (left) looks on glumly.Credit: Daniel Hurst

During an energetic pep talk to MPs and candidates this morning, Mr Newman vowed to bring energy to the election campaign and to work relentlessly to topple the Bligh Government.

“We have to get rid of the BLF – Bligh, Lucas and Fraser,” he told the crowd, to hearty applause.

Opposition interim leader Jeff Seeney, leader-in-waiting Campbell Newman and deputy leader Tim Nicholls gather for a photo with LNP MPs and candidates.Credit: Daniel Hurst

Mr Newman also vowed to empower local governments, work to ease cost of living pressures, attacked the federal government’s carbon tax plans, and sought to reach out to the public service.

At the 2009 state election, the Bligh Government condemned the opposition’s plans to slash wastage from public sector spending, insisting the policy would trigger major job losses

A media report a week ago suggested Mr Newman would look to cut the public service.

But Mr Newman told reporters today the public service should not be afraid of a government he led.

He said he was “not a right-wing ideologue” and respected the role of unions.

Mr Newman said he had a “fantastic” industrial relations track record at the council, with a low level of industrial disputes.

“Labor over the last two weeks have thrown all sorts of mud at me,” he said. “What I’m saying is that the public service has nothing to fear from me.”

However, he did suggest “fat cats” in the top levels of the state government-created water bureaucracy could lose their jobs.

He refused to outline any detailed policies today, saying he would work with the LNP to review policies in “coming weeks and months”.

He also vowed to unveil a shakeup of the LNP shadow cabinet after this week’s sitting of State Parliament.

He said he had unanimous backing from this morning’s party room meeting, where MPs displayed their support with a show of hands.

However, former deputy leader Lawrence Springborg said before the meeting he had concerns with process by which Mr Newman had come to lead the party.

Mr Springborg and former leader John-Paul Langbroek resigned a fortnight ago when Mr Newman announced he would enter state politics, with the backing of the LNP executive.

Mr Springborg, considered the father of the merged conservative party, said he had no problem with Mr Newman but he had a "grave" problem with how the leadership change had been handled.

"I have a problem with the way this has been done," he told reporters outside the meeting earlier today. "And I'm not going to get into ventilating what I may or may not say in the party room."

Mr Newman declined to say how he would pay for his impending campaign trips around the state, saying it would be a matter for the party organisation.

He did not rule out using a private jet supplied by billionaire mining magnate and party supporter Clive Palmer.

“No I don’t; I will take support from any quarter that I can get,” he said.

Mr Newman said he would not move into the Ashgrove electorate if he won the seat at the next election.

“No I won’t; I don’t think that’s anything other than symbolic,” he said, adding that he lived close by and was well-connected to the area.

He said key aspects of the Bligh Government’s $15 billion privatisation plan were “flawed”, naming the Port of Brisbane as an example of a business that should have remained in public hands.

He would not explain the LNP’s position on privatisation in great detail, saying only that the opposition would not do what the government did and “dump” a controversial plan on the public after an election.

Callide MP Jeff Seeney, effectively a bench warmer for Mr Newman, will lead the party in the Parliament.

Mr Newman, who turned state politics on its head two weeks ago by announcing his switch to the state arena, said he would take a key role in decisions on parliamentary tactics and questions asked in the house.

He plans to watch proceedings from the parliamentary public gallery this week.

The Bligh Government has attacked the LNP leadership arrangement as a “two-headed beast” and questioned who would be premier if the party won government but Mr Newman did not win Ashgrove.

Published opinion polling suggest Mr Newman is poised to win the next election.

- with AAP