‘Extraordinary scenes’: Ex-Premier Campbell Newman blasts 100km Bruce Hwy shutdown at Gindoran

Former premier Campbell Newman has slammed the ‘inaction’ of the government in the wake of another serious crash on the Bruce Highway as he steps into a major new role ahead of the federal election.

Former Premier Campbell Newman is stepping into a new politics role. Picture David Clark

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman has blasted the ‘inaction’ of the government in the wake of yet another serious crash on the Bruce Highway as he steps into a major new role ahead of the federal election.

He described Tuesday morning’s multi-vehicle crash on the Bruce as “extraordinary scenes” as nearly 100 kilometres of highway was closed just south of Miriam Vale, saying the current government needs to take action now.

“They haven’t had a plan,” Mr Newman said.

“When I was thrown out of office in 2015 we went to that election promising a 10-year plan for the Bruce Highway … we were getting the federal government on board (and) it was billions of dollars we said we’d spend. And we were also looking at the proceeds of asset leasing, controversial I know but proceeds from that would fund things like the Bruce.

“It’s a very dangerous road but a critically important one. Events of the last 18 hours have shown how bad it is in the vicinity of Gladstone … extraordinary scenes … on a stretch where it’s very, very busy they need to look at having a dual carriageway and a solid long-term plan.”

The ex-premier is now leading the charge within a new offbeat political party hoping to snag seats in the upcoming federal election, with policies like lowering taxes, opposing restrictions on civil liberties, pro cannabis and firearm ownership.

Mr Newman is the new campaign chair for the Queensland branch of the Libertarian Party Australia, formerly the Liberal Democratic Party in which he ran for a Senate seat in 2022.

Two Queensland candidates have been announced for the LP – South Burnett cattle farmer Jim Willmott and Proserpine farmer Lachlan Lade.

Two Queensland candidates have been announced for the Libertarian Party Australia: Proserpine farmer Lachlan Lade and South Burnett cattle farmer Jim Willmott.

As well as the farm, Mr Willmott works in biosecurity consulting and leads Property Rights Australia, which among other things fights the renewables industry over transmission lines going through farmers’ properties.

Lachlan Lade is a 28-year-old who’s growing a TikTok following for his bizarre videos under the moniker ‘Dunder Viking’ talking about civil liberties where he most often appears without a shirt.

For Mr Newman, the biggest priorities for North Queensland are cost of living, crime and fighting for the North to have its own state.

“Cost of living is huge, that intersects then with energy prices and this very flawed approach with renewables,” he said.

“The Libertarian Party has supported nuclear well before the LNP stood up with Dutton and said they’d back it. I was in Wagga giving a speech on this 18 months, 2 years ago making the case for nuclear.

“Renewables aren’t going to deliver affordable power, we think we need to keep our coal fired capacity going until such time as we can get nuclear plants going.”

He said the two candidates would be going hard on crime in North Queensland.

“Even though it’s a state issue, crime fundamentally is something that will have an impact on the federal campaign … their angle will be, if we’re elected to the Senate we’ll put pressure on the State Government to make people safe,” Mr Newman said.

And the idea of North Queensland being its own state?

“The north is fuelling the prosperity of Queensland but not getting the fruits of that economic contribution,” Mr Newman said.

Originally published as ‘Extraordinary scenes’: Ex-Premier Campbell Newman blasts 100km Bruce Hwy shutdown at Gindoran