Campbell Newman quits ‘failed’ Liberal National Party

The former Queensland premier has attacked Coalition pandemic responses, and will run for the Senate, most likely as a Liberal Democrats.

Campbell Newman has accused the Coalition of abandoning its principles in federal and state politics across the nation. Picture Mark Cranitch.

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman has quit the Liberal National Party, lashing out at Coalition pandemic responses, and will run for the Senate at the federal election, most likely for the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Newman, who was premier from 2012 to 2015, has accused the Coalition of abandoning its principles in federal and state politics across the nation, largely through its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its imposition and acceptance of lockdowns and border closures.

“We should not have Liberal politicians either closing down businesses and shutting borders, or failing to oppose these measures from opposition,” Mr Newman said. “I was disgusted, too, to see a Liberal minister in NSW attack protesters as ‘boofheads’ on the weekend when these people were protesting to protect their livelihoods and freedoms.”

Mr Newman has expressed dismay not only with the LNP opposition in his own state but also with Scott Morrison and the federal Coalition government, as well as the South Australian, ­Tasmanian and NSW Liberal and Coalition governments.

In his resignation letter sent late on Sunday to LNP state director Tony Eyres, Mr Newman said parliamentary representatives of the LNP had “failed to stand up for our core values of fiscal responsibility, smaller government, support for small business, the elimination of red tape and the defence of free speech and liberty.”

Queensland LNP’s new president, Lawrence Springborg, at the Liberal National Party Convention in Brisbane over the weekend. Picture: Glenn Hunt

He said it was crucial governments kept people safe but politicians had to ensure people were kept free as well – “these values do not have to be mutually exclusive, not even in a pandemic”.

Mr Newman said across the country, state and federal ­Coalition politicians were “failing to honour the spirit” of freedom and individual enterprise at the heart of Liberal, and Australian, values. His wife, Lisa, has also ­resigned.

The resignation comes in the wake of internal changes and factional score-settling at the LNP’s weekend conference, which installed former state leader Lawrence Springborg as president.

Following a poor performance in a state by-election for the Labor-held seat of Stretton on Saturday, Mr Newman tweeted that the LNP candidate, Jim Bellos, was let down by a “party and leadership that never stands up for anything”.

Until late yesterday, Mr Newman, a two-term Brisbane lord mayor, was one of three trustees of the LNP, the party created by the merger of the Liberals and ­Nationals in 2008.

He was first elected lord mayor as a Liberal (before the Queensland party merger) and has a blue-blood Liberal pedigree because both of his parents served as federal Liberal ministers from Tasmania (Kevin in the Fraser government, Jocelyn in the Howard years).

A recent IPSOS poll showed Mr Newman had higher favour­ability among LNP voters than state leader David Crisafulli.

LNP candidate Jim Bellos on Saturday. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Newman confirmed his intention to run for the Senate at the next election due by May next year.

It is understood he has held at least informal discussions with three political outfits – One Nation, Clive Palmer and the Liberal Democrats – and could also run as an independent.

He is most likely to join the Liberal Democrats, which would be a significant boost for the party, which formerly held one Senate seat through NSW’s David Leyonhjelm, who was replaced by Duncan Spender before the seat was lost at the last election.

The Liberal Democrats hold two seats in the Victorian legislative assembly and recently recruited former NSW Liberal Party reform advocate John Ruddick (who was fined by police for ­attending Saturday’s anti-­lockdown protest in Sydney).

A Senate run by Mr Newman could prove costly for the LNP, which pre-selected the Assistant Minister for Women, Amanda Stoker, in the difficult third spot for the Coalition’s Queensland Senate ticket.