Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington lashes ‘LNP bully boys’ over leadership leaks
Queensland Opposition leader turns on her own after a series of damaging leaks designed to destabilise her leadership.
Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington is staring down an extraordinary challenge to her leadership from the “backroom bully boys” who run the Liberal National Party, just months out from the razor-edge state election.
Senior party figures, including LNP president Dave Hutchinson, former premier Campbell Newman and ex-president Bruce McIver, are understood to believe Ms Frecklington cannot beat Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the October 31 election. They are being blamed for agitating for her ousting as leader.
Mr Hutchinson has been accused of commissioning and leaking damaging internal polling revealing Ms Frecklington is trailing Ms Palaszczuk in popularity and in key marginal seats, despite published polling showing the LNP leading Labor 52-48 per cent, two-party preferred.
A defiant Ms Frecklington said she was not going anywhere as leader, and she insisted that she had the full support of LNP MPs, accusing “a few blokes ¬sitting in the back room” of leaking against her.
“I will not be bullied by the backroom boys of the LNP,” Ms Frecklington said
“It is disappointing there are a few blokes sitting in the back room who want things to go back to the way things were. Unlike the Premier, who is beholden to the union movement, I will not be bullied by outside forces.”
The party organisation is pushing for former Newman government minister David Crisafulli — now Ms Frecklington’s tourism spokesman — to replace her, but it is understood he does not have the numbers in the LNP partyroom.
Several senior LNP sources confirmed LNP headquarters’ dissatisfaction with Ms Frecklington’s performance, and suggested the polling was leaked to “get the partyroom to wake up to themselves”.
“It’s now or never. We can’t risk another four years of Annastacia Palaszczuk,” a party source said. It is reminiscent of 2011, when the LNP organisation — including Mr McIver as president — schemed against sitting opposition leader John-Paul Langbroek to oust him in favour of then Brisbane lord mayor Mr Newman. The party organisation believed Mr Langbroek was not making enough ground against Labor premier Anna Bligh, who had a short-term bounce in the polls thanks to her handling of the Brisbane floods.
Crucially, the Newman plan was backed by senior LNP MPs Tim Nicholls and Jeff Seeney. This time, Ms Frecklington is understood to have retained the support of the majority of her parliamentary colleagues.
Mr Crisafulli refused to say whether he would challenge Ms Frecklington before the election, or whether he had anything to do with the leaked polling.
He tweeted: “On the day media talk about polling, @DebFrecklington reveals her vision for water infrastructure. In the week (Labor Tourism Minister) @katejonesqld plays divisive politics, I drive 1800km to meet tourism operators from the Gold Coast to Cairns desperate for certainty around the borders.”
Immediate past president Gary Spence declined to comment, as did LNP founder Mr McIver.
Former premier Mr Newman — for whom Mr Hutchinson acted as campaign director in his seat of Ashgrove — said he believed Mr Crisafulli was one of the few people in Ms Frecklington’s team “continually punching through”.
“I want the LNP to win, I want Deb Frecklington to win, but they’re not making enough of an impact and the election is in danger of slipping away from the LNP,” Mr Newman said.
“It’s senior people in the party, it’s people who have been supportive, it’s donors, it’s people in the community saying it’s not working.”
Mr Newman denied agitating for Ms Frecklington’s removal as leader. “That’s completely untrue. But as a political commentator, I will call things out without fear or favour,” he said.
Asked whether Mr Crisafulli would make a good leader of the LNP, Mr Newman said: “That’s a matter for the partyroom.”
There will be meetings of Ms Frecklington’s shadow cabinet and the LNP partyroom in Brisbane on Monday, ahead of this week’s parliamentary sitting.
Mr Hutchinson and Ms Frecklington fell out earlier this year, after The Australian revealed Mr Hutchinson had taken a job working for controversial businessman and rival political party leader Clive Palmer.
At an LNP meeting held at the Brisbane Airport, it is understood Ms Frecklington told Mr Hutchinson his position as president was untenable because of his job with Mr Palmer. He did not resign, and instead publicly promised to step down as president if Mr Palmer ran candidates at the Queensland election.
Mr Hutchinson did not return calls from The Australian. A spokesman for the party put the allegations to him that he was agitating for Ms Frecklington’s removal and had commissioned and leaked the damaging internal polling. The spokesman said Mr Hutchinson declined to comment.
In a sign of the fractured relationship between the party organisation and Ms Frecklington, the party spokesman would say only: “We are completely focused on maximising our chances of winning in October.”
Ms Frecklington faced the media on Sunday flanked by her deputy, Tim Mander.
Mr Mander said suggestions of a move against Ms Frecklington before the election were “absolute nonsense”.
“Deb has my 100 per cent support and she has the support of the parliamentary wing as well,” Mr Mander said.
Neither Mr Mander nor Ms Frecklington would say whether they had been contacted by Mr Hutchinson over the leaks. “These people have not identified themselves publicly and if they had any character at all, that’s exactly what they would do,” Mr Mander said.
If Ms Frecklington survives the next fortnight — which she is expected to do — senior party figures expect Mr Hutchinson to be forced to resign.
One of Ms Frecklington’s shadow cabinet members said Ms Frecklington had the “almost unanimous support” of the partyroom. “She’s refusing to kowtow to Campbell Newman and the faceless men of the party who have a long history of rolling leaders to ensure their puppets are in the right place at the right time,” the MP said.
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