LNP boots out young party president Ben Riley after drunken prank backfires

PAIR of RM Williams boots taken during a drunken prank at political function results in six month suspension for Young LNP president.

LNP puts boot into young president

A MISSING pair of RM Williams boots has resulted in a six months suspension for Young LNP president Ben Riley.

Parliament is abuzz with scuttlebutt from last Friday night's LNP Convention Gala Dinner, which reportedly saw Mr Riley take a pair of boots from the RM Williams stand at the event, putting them on and spilling beer on them.

The accepted story goes that he woke the next morning still wearing the boots, which he then offered to pay for.

The unimpressed LNP executive considered the matter and whether Mr Riley should be expelled, but instead settled on a six-month suspension.

Party officials were not in the mood to discuss the incident today, telling The Courier-Mail "we don't comment on internal party matters".

But Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said he supported the LNP's right to discipline members who it believed had brought the party into ridicule.

"I don't get involved in day-to-day organisation issues of the party but I just say that if people actually abuse the codes that have been put down by the LNP, that has a very, very strict code when it comes to the issue of conduct of its members, and particularly if its members bring the party into ridicule," Mr Springborg said.

"That is a matter for the organisation to deal with and of course I support their actions."

The dinner at which the alleged theft occurred, was the same one that Premier Campbell Newman famously left before dessert was served - after failing to see the funny side of a "joke" told by Federal Coalition deputy leader Warren Truss.

The Member for Wide Bay told the 650-strong gathering that the mood towards the Federal Coalition was good in Queensland "unless it's the day after Newman closes a hospital".

The gibe did not amuse Queensland Government MPs who have been at war with the Federal Labor Government over cuts to health funding.

The Courier-Mail is awaiting a response from RM Williams about the fate of the boots in question.