Former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg likely for political comeback

Less than three years after he ended his lengthy career in state parliament, former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg looks set to make a political comeback.

FORMER LNP leader Lawrence Springborg looks certain to make a political comeback after he was the only person to nominate for mayor of Goondiwindi.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland on Tuesday night unveiled its most updated list of candidates for the March 28 election as nominations for the poll officially closed.

Former Ipswich councillor Paul Tully, who lost his job when the council was dismissed in 2018, will also try to revive his local government career as he makes a tilt to reclaim his old division.

Lawrence Springborg, who served for decades in Queensland parliament, was the only person to nominate for mayor of Goondiwindi. File picture

Speaking to The Courier-Mail yesterday, Mr Tully – who will run in the dual member division on a ticket with local accountant Nicole Jonic – said there was “unfinished business”.

“I think it’s important that the next council is not just full of new councillors who will take one or two years to find their feet,” he said.

“Most people say to me the best council to be elected would be one with experience and also one with new blood as well.”

Several mayoral candidates across the state look set to stand unopposed, including Mr Springborg, who according to the latest list published by the ECQ had no rivals opposing him in the Goondiwindi mayoral race.

Mr Springborg – a former state opposition leader who served 28 years in the Queensland parliament – yesterday said he would await a formal announcement from the ECQ, but reaffirmed his connection with the region.

“This is the area where my family has lived for four generations,” he said.

”Unfinished business”: Former Ipswich councillor Paul Tully will stand again in the March 28 local government elections. Picture: Cordell Richardson

“Locals have been overwhelmingly encouraging and very generous to me. It was by weight of their encouragement that I put my name forward.”

In Brisbane, there will be at least nine candidates – including LNP incumbent Adrian Schrinner and Labor’s Patrick Condren – running to lead the city over the next four years.

There are at least five mayoral candidates in Ipswich, eight in Logan, four in Townsville, six in Moreton Bay, four on the Sunshine Coast and eight on the Gold Coast – where Mayor Tom Tate will be running for a third term.

It is understood across the state there are about 200 less nominations compared to the 2016 council election.

Local Government Association of Queensland acting chief executive Sarah Buckler said the drop in candidates was disappointing, but not surprising “given what we have been hearing over recent months”.

“This has been a challenging period of much reform and we need to remember that local government is at its best when good people are encouraged to participate and we have the broadest representation of the community,” she said.