Senior Turnbull Government tacticians want to rip up LNP political agreement
SEVERAL senior Turnbull Government tacticians want to rip up the Liberal National Party political agreement over fears One Nation will cannibalise its vote in Queensland.
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SEVERAL senior Turnbull Government tacticians want to rip up the Liberal National Party political agreement over fears One Nation will cannibalise its vote in Queensland.
Influential ministers no longer believe the political marriage is in the best interests of the Coalition and want the “Nationals to re-establish their brand in the bush”.
Concerns are raging within the Coalition over the value of the LNP at a time when protest votes are rising and the State Government has returned to compulsory preferential voting, a system that benefits Labor. They believe separate Liberal and National parties and brands would work best.
Queensland Coalition MPs will meet in Canberra tomorrow and are expected to discuss the issue, which has reopened old wounds. However, the matter is in the hands of members and the party’s state executive.
It comes as Attorney-General George Brandis, who is Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s representative in Queensland, was caught out flagging unscrambling the LNP egg, drawing scorn from some Coalition MPs.
In the extraordinary recording first aired by Sky News, head of the Victorian Liberal Party Michael Kroger asked Senator Brandis: “How are things in Queensland? How’s Tim Nicholls going?’
“They’re not very good,” he replied. “I’d say that the State Opposition is very, very mediocre, and the State Government is very, very mediocre but the thing that is alarming everyone is, as you would expect, the sudden spike in One Nation which is now at about 16 per cent.
“One Nation as you know their strength is in heartland National Party seats, and heartland Labor Party seats, the old industrial seats around Ipswich and western Brisbane.
“I think there is every reason to believe that they will win quite a few seats in the state election.”
A critic of the 2008 merger of the Liberals and Nationals, Senator Brandis warned the Palaszczuk Government’s introduction of compulsory preferential voting might force the parties apart.
“The Labor Party are bringing back compulsory preferential,” Senator Brandis said.
Mr Kroger responds saying: “Oh are they?”
“Yes they are, yes they are … which somewhat attacks the raison d’etre of the merger of the Liberal Party and National Party, I think there might be a revisiting of things as a result of compulsory preferential voting,” Senator Brandis responded.
In a statement, Mr Nicholls said he “strongly disagreed” with Senator Brandis’s assessment of the Opposition.
“I lead a strong and effective Queensland Opposition which is holding to account an incompetent, do-nothing Government with no plans for Queensland,” he said.
“We recognise concerns from voters who do not believe they are being heard.”
LNP president Gary Spence said Senator Brandis’s comments were “private” but he did not support them.
Senator Ian Macdonald said Mr Nicholls was doing a “credible” job.
“I’m not wildly excited by them but they don’t have to be terribly good to be better than the Palaszczuk Government,” he said.
Senator Macdonald said the LNP was “here to stay” and he believed compulsory preferential voting would damage Labor in the face of One Nation led by Pauline Hanson.
Petrie MP Luke Howarth said the merger had been a great thing. “I don’t think bringing back preferential voting will create a split in the LNP,” he said. “Yes, there’s a bit of a lean to One Nation but that’s something we’re going to have to listen to the people about and bring them back on board.”
Dawson MP George Christensen said he did not have any “major criticism” of the State Opposition.
“All I can say is the issue of a demerger did come up in my local branch and my local branch voted overwhelmingly to stay,” he said. “I think one member down in Canberra who may be a minister has one view but the membership has another view.”
A senior state LNP figure branded Senator Brandis a “silly old bugger”, saying the sooner he retired the better.
Another said: “I hope our enemies don’t do us this much damage.”
Senator Brandis would not comment yesterday.
However, a senior minister has told The Courier-Mail that “there was no sense having a combined party anymore (because) One Nation is on the rise”.
Another said: “It’s best to separate. People (in some regional areas) won’t vote LNP, they will vote for One Nation.”
Senior Queensland minister Matt Canavan told Sky News that he did not agree with Senator Brandis’s assessment about the viability of the LNP.
“Our party is grassroots. It is not run by George Brandis or me.”
Queensland junior Government minister Jane Prentice hit back at Senator Brandis’s critique, telling ABC Radio she thought the assessment was harsh.
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