Leaked chat exposes LNP rift in Peter Dutton’s Queensland team

A federal election just months away but Peter Dutton’s own party in Queensland is fighting itself, leaked messages have revealed.

The LNP's state council meeting in Rockhampton this month. Picture: Facebook

Leaked messages have revealed a widening rift between moderate and conservative forces inside Peter Dutton’s Queensland stronghold, after state and federal Liberal National Party politicians were exposed badmouthing their colleague, James McGrath, in a private group chat.

Senator McGrath delivered a federal report on behalf of the Opposition Leader to the LNP meeting in Rockhampton earlier this month, in the wake of the LNP’s victory at the October 24 Queensland election.

But The Weekend Australian has been told that while he was speaking, a private WhatsApp group for some of the party’s conservative MPs, senators and members – including Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan, federal LNP MP Henry Pike and newly elected state MP and former federal senator Amanda Stoker – lit up with criticism that the speech did not properly sell key parts of Mr Dutton’s policy agenda.

LNP Senator James McGrath addresses the party's state council meeting in Rockhampton. Picture: Facebook

Bowman MP Henry Pike at the LNP state council meeting. Picture: Facebook

Members of the chat complained that Senator McGrath failed to mention inflation, immigration, Mr Dutton’s plan to build seven nuclear reactors across the country, and the issue of a per-capita recession.

Ms Stoker, who lost a bitter preselection battle to Senator McGrath ahead of the last election, walked out of the room at the Rockhampton Leagues Club just before Senator McGrath spoke, which moderate party members interpreted as a direct rebuke. “She made it quite obvious,” one LNP member said.

In 2021, Senator McGrath beat Ms Stoker for the top spot on the party’s Senate ticket, forcing Ms Stoker into third, a position that was ultimately unwinnable at the last federal election.

An observer said Senator McGrath’s speech appeared to be off the cuff and solely focused on the threat of anti-Semitism, missing an opportunity for a “big set piece” speech to members before the federal election.

Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan, LNP environment minister Andrew Powell, and Rockhampton state MP Donna Kirkland in Rockhampton during the LNP state council meeting. Picture: Facebook

Senator Canavan said he was “not going to comment on private conversations” when contacted by The Weekend Australian, and Mr Pike – the MP for Bowman, on Brisbane’s bayside – also declined to comment.

Ms Stoker said she left the room before Senator McGrath’s speech started to catch up with someone else and did not know what he spoke about.

Senator McGrath – who declined to comment – is seen by some in the Queensland Liberal National Party as a powerbroker who controls the dominant moderate wing of the party, including its powerful youth arm, the Young LNP.

Senator Canavan, Ms Stoker and Mr Pike are aligned with the party’s conservative flank, sometimes called the Christian Right.

Some in the so-called moderate faction insist the division is not between moderates and conservatives, but rather between those who want to win elections and those who want to fight among themselves.

Others who align themselves with the conservatives believe members are rallying the troops to prepare to install an ally as party president should Lawrence Springborg retire from the job after the federal election, due by May.

Behind closed doors at the state council meeting of about 350 LNP MPs, senators, office-bearers, life members and other leading rank and file, Senator Canavan attempted to push an urgency motion calling for “the state and federal LNP to drop their commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 so that we are aligned with the policy of the incoming Trump administration”.

It was seconded by federal LNP MP Colin Boyce, but failed to get the necessary two-thirds support from the floor to be substantively debated.

Tensions between the two informal factions were further inflamed on the Friday night before the meeting, when the official Young LNP-hosted welcome drinks party at Rockhampton Golf Club – included on the formal weekend agenda – was followed by a rebel event attended by Senator Canavan, other Right-leaning politicians, and conservative powerbroker and suspended LNP member David Goodwin.