Qld election 2020: Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington at a potentially perilous crossroads

If the definition of insanity really is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result then the diagnosis of the LNP and its constant changes of leadership is rather obvious. They’re nuts, writes Steven Wardill.

IF Deb Frecklington was to be ousted – and there’s no guarantee that’s going to happen yet – whoever replaced her would be the fifth LNP leader to face off against Annastacia Palaszczuk.

You’d have to cast back to the mid-1980s and the late Nev Warburton to come up with the same number of Queensland Labor leaders.

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Sure, Labor has held government during most of those years and that has helped instil discipline.

But it’s instructive nonetheless of the culture within Queensland’s conservatives when it comes to their frequent leadership coups.

If the definition of insanity really is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result then the diagnosis of the LNP is rather obvious. They’re nuts.

Yet it’s undeniable that Frecklington’s leadership is at a potentially perilous crossroad. Her inability to boost her appeal among Queensland voters has convinced powerful forces within the LNP that she’ll be a liability during the looming election.

Queensland Opposition leader Deb Frecklinton would be the fifth LNP leader to face off against Annastacia Palaszczuk if she makes it to October. Photography : Russell Shakespeare

She’s also alienated federal colleagues and a host of influential interest groups along the way, which is unacceptable from opposition where friends are hard to find.

But while opposition leaders everywhere have been rendered irrelevant during the coronavirus crisis, it would be wrong to argue Frecklington didn’t already have issues.

COVID-19 has just exacerbated her problems while gifting Palaszczuk renewed popularity.

And unlike all those others on the purgatory side of politics in Australia, Frecklington is the one who will face an election first.

The Opposition’s strategy of being hyper-negative and policy-lite might have been working in part to dismantle Palaszczuk’s appeal up until coronavirus came along.

But the case to pivot to a bigger and bolder agenda, one that draws attention to the alternative, was obvious some time ago but it just hasn’t happened.

Now those powerful LNP forces are trying to convince MPs that the way to make it happen is to discard Frecklington for a fresh face.

It’s a risk strategy just 140 days before an election and time and again it hasn’t worked.

But those pushing for change are convinced they’ve got nothing to lose, except another election.