Campbell Newman comeback sparks LNP rift

Campbell Newman has emerged from the political cold to be made a trustee of Queensland’s Liberal National Party after fierce objections.

Campbell Newman. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Campbell Newman has emerged from the political cold to be made a trustee of Queensland’s Liberal National Party after fierce objections led by Defence Minister Peter Dutton to the ex-premier being brought back “into the fold”.

The man who went from hero to zero for the LNP in a single term was narrowly elected on Friday to the powerful post by its state executive, which was deeply split over his recall to a position of influence in the party. Mr Newman’s appointment will intensify a battle for control by Mr Dutton and others seeking to purge the organisational leadership and sever claimed links with billionaire businessman Clive Palmer, an LNP life member before he stormed out to found his own party.

One attendee of the heated state executive meeting said the committee had been blindsided when acting LNP president Cynthia Hardy proposed Mr Newman as trustee and put it to a vote.

Another, describing Mr Newman’s elevation as “surreal”, told The Weekend Australian it showed “no political judgment”.

After lengthy debate, the nomination passed 12-10, according to reliable accounts. Mr Dutton, who sits on state executive as the LNP’s ranking federal MP, spoke against Mr Newman’s appointment while another Queensland-based federal cabinet minister, David Littleproud, voted “no” along with former deputy state opposition leader Tim Mander.

The resistance reflects the long shadow cast by Mr Newman’s rollercoaster term of office between 2012 and 2015, opening with one of the biggest election victories in Australian political history and capped by a wipe-out for the LNP in which he lost his seat.

Led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland Labor went on to win in 2017 and last October, with Mr Newman’s combative style of governing featuring heavily in the ALP campaigns for both state ­elections.

Post-politics, he has stayed in the public eye as a regular on Sky News and at times a sharp critic of the LNP and Scott Morrison. Taking aim at the Prime Minister last November, he said Mr Morrison ran a “government of spin” devoid of substance: “He really is Scotty from marketing”.

Mr Dutton raised Mr Newman’s outspoken history when questioning how, as a trustee, he could sit on the LNP’s disputes committee when it had meted out punishments of suspension and even expulsion for others who had voiced criticism of the party. Mr Dutton emphasised that he counted Mr Newman as a friend, and his opposition to his appointment was not personal.

Ms Hardy argued that the party needed Mr Newman’s business nous to protect and build the party’s $40m-plus in cash and assets and to “bring him back into the fold”, a participant in the meeting said. It is understood she approached him to become a trustee.

Mr Newman emphasised to her that his role would be limited to overseeing the party’s investment portfolio with the LNP treasurer, and he would not be involved in political matters.

He had been adamant that his contribution as trustee would be to put the party’s finances on a successful, long-term trajectory, an associate said. The former premier and Brisbane lord mayor, whose financial services business manages investments including $130m in property assets, declined to comment when approached last night.

“He will give great impetus to our fundraising and asset-building,” Ms Hardy said. “Labor will complain and criticise, as they always do, but the LNP will be much better off for his contribution.”

Mr Newman’s re-emergence will play into tensions in the LNP ahead of a crucial State Council meeting on Saturday to finalise the party’s Queensland senate ticket, as well as moves to dump Ms Hardy and the powerbrokers who backed her for president after her predecessor, David Hutchinson, was forced to quit last July.

Mr Hutchinson had fallen out bitterly with then state opposition leader Deb Frecklington, who accused him of being behind a damaging leak of party polling to undermine her position.

At the time, Mr Dutton said it was untenable for Mr Hutchinson to stay as president. Concern was also expressed that Mr Hutchinson was on the Palmer payroll when his party was to go up against the LNP at the 2020 election. The Weekend Australian has confirmed that Mr Hutchinson remains employed as a consultant by one of Mr Palmer’s companies.