Newman warns: More people may quit the LNP

Outgoing LNP member Campbell Newman has warned of a further exodus as he says he “got the memo” he wasn’t wanted. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Campbell Newman has warned more people may quit the LNP, while saying he “got the memo” after people from the parliamentary wing took aim at his recent ascension to the party’s state executive.

As several senior insiders welcomed the former premier’s resignation from the party, others said it was a loss.

“Anyone who thinks this is a good thing for the LNP is a fool,” they said.

“Take Campbell Newman out of the equation and we never reclaimed Brisbane City Council and we never would have experienced what it was like to govern the state.”

Another source said Mr Newman had solved a significant problem for the LNP in that Labor would no longer be able to use him when campaigning against it.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli refused to answer questions from The Courier-Mail and did not appear before the media on Monday.

Mr Newman told The Courier-Mail his resignation had nothing to do with what eventuated at the LNP’s weekend convention, but rather the need for another force to pressure governments to perform better.

Taking aim at the federal Coalition and other governments’ “mismanagement” of the pandemic across the country, Mr Newman said he had “crossed the rubicon because these people are just a political class”.

But he said there was also a trigger point after being appointed an LNP trustee.

“I had wanted to help, I had wanted to work from within,” he said.

“When (then LNP president) Cynthia Hardy asked me to be a trustee, I thought, well that’s how I will do it.

“And I went and she put me up at that meeting, the federal (Liberal) president was against it, John Olsen, (federal MP) Peter Dutton was against it … (deputy Nationals leader David) Littleproud was against it … (state LNP frontbencher Tim) Mander was against it, so I thought well ... I got voted up ... the people who are in the parliamentary wing don’t want me involved, so I got the memo and I’m not involved any more.

“It helped the decision.”

Mr Newman refused to comment on internal party matters, including the election as president of Lawrence Springborg, his predecessor as LNP leader and architect of the party’s amalgamation.

Mr Newman said he had not yet decided whether he would run for the Senate.

Senior Liberal Democrats say they have been talking with him for weeks about the potential for him to run, however said it’s not yet a done deal.

Liberal Democrats national president John Humphreys said the party had been reaching out to a number of high-profile people with an interest in a centre-right party “standing up against Covid-mania and the growing debt and deficit”.

“I’ve spoken to Cam … Cam has spoken at events I’ve spoken at. We knew each other already,” he said.

“We have more recently been making suggestion and talking about political future.

“We haven’t got to the end of those conversations yet, but they’ve been fun conversations.

“I believe he would be an excellent addition to the Senate. As to how he gets to the Senate, that story hasn’t been written yet.”