Indecisive state LNP has ‘lost its values, lost its way’, says Campbell Newman

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman says the LNP is directionless under David Crisafulli and that the parliamentary team does not reflect the values of the party’s membership.

Former Queensland LNP premier Campbell Newman and incumbent leader David Crisafulli in 2014. Picture: Wesley Monts

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman says the Liberal National Party is directionless under the leadership of David Crisafulli and that the parliamentary team does not reflect the values of the party’s membership.

Mr Newman quit the party on Sunday, just months after he was appointed as trustee, saying he no longer knew what the LNP stood for and that he was considering running for the Senate.

Giving reasons for his decision on Monday, the former Brisbane lord mayor criticised the leadership of his one-time protege and minister, whom he previously described as a future premier, and laid blame for 2017 and 2020 election losses on the parliamentary team.

“The problem fundamentally is them,” Mr Newman said.

“They haven’t worked hard enough and they haven’t represented the values of the aspirational middle class. They haven’t stood up on free speech, they haven’t stood up on the excesses of (chief health officer) Dr (Jeannette) Young, the Premier and the lockdown, and they haven’t fought on crime.” The criticism comes after the LNP state convention at which former leader Lawrence Springborg was elected party president and Mr Crisafulli spoke of a new direction of unity.

Mr Newman, voted out in 2015 after three years in power, said Mr Crisafulli’s leadership was to blame for the LNP’s loss in the Stretton by-election on Saturday.

“After 2015, I don’t know what the platform is,” he said. “Are they for small government, are they for balanced budgets, are they for lowering the debt, are they for law and order? I don’t know and Queenslanders don’t know.

“That’s why you saw the result … in the by-election.”

On Sunday, Mr Crisafulli said he “took heart” from the slight swing to the LNP in the by-election but did not hit back at his former boss, who had also criticised him on social media.

“I’m not immune to criticism and I’ll cop it from any corner,” he said.

The Australian can reveal Mr Newman planned to quit the LNP months ago after party heavyweights Peter Dutton, David Littleproud, Tim Mander, Jarrod Bleijie and federal Liberal Party president John Olsen privately advocated against him being appointed honorary trustee by former acting LNP president Cynthia Hardy.

In a statement on Monday, LNP state director Tony Eyres thanked Mr Newman and his wife, Lisa, who also quit, for their contribution to the party.

“The LNP would like to wish former premier Campbell Newman all the best in his new direction,” he said. “On the weekend the grassroots members and the parliamentary team of the LNP made a clear decision to chart a new path of unity, laying a strong platform for the party’s future and in turn the future of Queensland.”