Frustration in Coalition over performance of Attorney-General George Brandis

FRUSTRATION is growing within the Coalition over the performance of Attorney-General George Brandis, as Cabinet ministers privately discuss his replacement.

Attorney-General Senator George Brandis during Question Time in the Senate.

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FRUSTRATION is growing within the Coalition over the performance of Attorney-General George Brandis, as Cabinet ministers privately discuss his replacement.

LNP federal MPs will meet in the office of Ted O’Brien, the member for Fairfax, this morning, ahead of a party executive meeting in Brisbane tomorrow.

Today’s powwow aims to bring LNP federal MPs together to discuss how to use their numbers to demand more infrastructure for Queensland and a better deal from Cabinet.

While there is no move to dump Senator Brandis, it’s widely expected he will resign next year.

He drew the ire of some within the party this week after canning State LNP Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls and raising the prospect some may call for a demerger of the LNP because of the rise of One Nation.

Highly placed sources told The Courier-Mail that Senator Brandis “came nowhere near to apologising” to Mr Nicholls after a tense phone call between the pair this week.

NSW junior minister Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells wants the Attorney-General’s role, but some Cabinet ministers in NSW want to give it to Christian Porter, a former ­attorney-general in Western Australia.

Part of the reason the LNP MPs have been meeting regularly in Canberra is that they hold the view that Queensland is being dudded, including representation at the Cabinet table.

There is also speculation indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion will resign within the year. His Cabinet position could be transferred to Queensland, paving the way for a wider reshuffle.

Nationals believe the timing of the reshuffle could ­determine who is given the Cabinet position.

Because Senator Scullion is a Country Liberal Party member, his position has to go to a Queensland National.

Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Keith Pitt is tipped to get the gig. But new MP for Maranoa, David Littleproud, is also being touted as a possible contender.

While unusual for a new MP to go straight into Cabinet, a source told The Courier-Mail that Mr Littleproud was impressive, and believed his background in farming finance put him above the pack.

They said that if the reshuffle was further away in the term, it would be easier to parachute Mr Littleproud into Cabinet.

Meanwhile, Dawson MP George Christensen said that he was unaware of speculation his former staff member Tamara Candy could run for One Nation.

A number of disaffected LNP members are flirting with joining One Nation at the next state election.