LNP looks to have learnt very little from drubbing they received at polls

With turmoil in conservative politics and consensus Queensland voters rejected arrogance, you’d think the LNP would have a good look at themselves.

Staff headshot of Gold Coast Bulletin columnist Sue Lappeman. Picture by Scott Fletcher

BREAKING NEWS: This morning, thousands of Gold Coasters went about their business the same as they do every other day.

That’s right folks, the world has not ended despite the lack of any real leader since the statewide routing of the LNP Government on Saturday night.

It all seems rather calm considering the LNP’s predictions of chaos if Queensland was left with a hung parliament, which it appears is now quite likely.

Ironically, it’s the LNP’s counterparts elsewhere who have descended into chaos thanks to us oft forgot sun belters and our rebellion against a negative leadership style.

Tony Abbott is gripping tightly to his prime ministership as some of his colleagues, worried about his Newman-like leadership tendencies, try to pry his fingers off it.

Over in the Northern Territory a midnight coup saw Chief Minister Adam Giles ousted for someone called Willem Westra van Holthe.

His deputy will be John ­Elferink.

I thought I was reading a spoiler for Game of Thrones when I saw those names.

But Mr Giles is refusing to go and is probably locking himself in his office, Sir Joh-like, as I write.

I bet NSW Premier Mike Baird is changing the locks on his office as well.

The snooty southern media must be rather indignant the much mocked Queensland political landscape is so influential at the moment.

That will teach their television networks for programming everything for daylight saving time and pretending their shows are LIVE when they broadcast into Queensland an hour later.

Bitter? Yep.

With so much turmoil in conservative politics and the consensus that voters were rejecting arrogance, hubris and meanness, you’d think the LNP would be having a good look at themselves.

Not so.

Many are still consoling each other by claiming voters got it wrong and will regret their stupidity.

Others, such as former deputy premier Jeff “what chartered plane’’ Seeney, gave a media conference announcing he would not run for the leadership — as if he had a chance in hell anyway — before blaming Campbell Newman’s staff for the election result.

“I think it was something of an experiment to bring a leader from local government into the state government sphere,” said Jeff, who was one of the chief scientists conducting the experiment.

“I think that was very successful in winning the election initially but I think we underestimated the challenge of bringing not just the Premier, but all of his associated staff and senior advisers into a situation where they weren’t familiar with the accepted norms and weren’t familiar with the processes.”

As compared to the existing LNP MPs and staff who had been in opposition for about 20 years?

Yes, I’m sure it was Newman’s staff who had no idea what they were doing.

On Twitter, furious LNP supporters have kicked off the party’s rebuilding by starting rude parody accounts, pretending to be Annastacia ­Palaszczuk or dopey Labor ­disciples.

Probably not what the party needs right now, guys.

When I pointed out — very politely — that perhaps they had not learnt anything from the drubbing they received on Saturday night, these witless Twitter trolls called me a “washed up former journalist’’ .

Which, thankfully, reminded me I had not yet done my washing up.

But, come on, them calling me washed up after they had just suffered such a mortifying defeat is pretty funny, isn’t it?

Not sure they saw the irony themselves though.

I have since changed my Twitter bio to advise everyone that I am a washed-up former journo AND Premier of Queensland.

Someone has to step up.

So the LNP is back looking for a new leader, a process they know well.

In the past decade or so there has been Horan, Springborg, Seeney, Springborg, Langbroek, Seeney and Newman.

I think.

I might have forgotten a ­couple.

And that doesn’t include all the Liberal leaders from the Coalition before the parties were merged.

Meanwhile the rest of us wait calmly for the vote counters to do their jobs.

Except the candidates.

Did everyone see the picture on the Bulletin’s front page on Tuesday of the candidates’ scrutineers breathing down the vote counters’ necks?

Not awkward at all.