Moderate vs conservative: showdown over factional war inside Queensland’s LNP

The governing body of Queensland’s Liberal National Party will meet on Thursday to deal with allegations of branch stacking in its youth division.

LNP President Lawrence Springborg and vice-president Amanda Cooper during the LNP annual state conference held in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE/Tertius Pickard

The governing body of the Liberal National Party will convene an urgent meeting on Thursday to deal with allegations of branch stacking in its youth division and bullying by party heavyweights.

Bitter divisions between the Queensland’s party’s warring conservative and moderate factions erupted this week over a late transfer of memberships into the Young LNP South Brisbane branch ahead of a vote to elect its chair and delegates to an upcoming convention.

A meeting of the LNP’s state executive will on Thursday afternoon assess competing complaints about the alleged “branch stack” at Sunday’s meeting and accusations of bullying levelled against former Howard government minister Gary Hardgrave and conservative powerbroker David Goodwin.

The 30-member executive – which includes federal leaders Peter Dutton and David Littleproud and state leader David Crisafulli – has powers to launch investigations and take disciplinary action, including suspension and expulsions.

The row comes amid tensions in the LNP about the activities of the moderate-led youth arm of the party, which has been steadily recruiting new members in a bid to strengthen its influence and voting bloc in internal ballots.

The success of YLNP’s campaign was evident last year when it secured the election of Joshua Auld as regional vice-president on state executive and it was able to force amendments to policy positions at the Nationals convention.

The growing power of the youth arm has triggered strong push-back from ­conservative-leaning members of the party.

One LNP source said: “It has been a cold war for so long – now the bazookas are coming out.”

At Sunday’s vote to elect the YLNP’s South Brisbane branch chair, Mr Goodwin’s daughter, Emma, lost to Christian Camuglia, a staffer of Queensland senator James McGrath.

In a letter to party president Lawrence Springborg, Mr Hardgrave raised concerns that eight members were transferred into the branch within 48-hours of the vote. He said he tried to have the transfers banned from voting at the meeting but his “attempts to guide and assert authority were rejected by various YLNP personalities (including political staffers) in the room”.

“The problem is the margin in elections was less than the eight new members transferred into the branch so those alleging the ‘stack’ are understandably concerned,” he wrote. “I am also concerned.”

In his letter to Mr Springborg and the state executive, Mr Goodwin alleged party headquarters was “now ­actively managing factional branch stacking” because it had approved the transfers.

“I have observed witch hunts by senior members of HQ with no due process … I’d call it ­factional bullying,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, they have overseen what appears to be a terrible culture at HQ, one in which membership is becoming increasingly concerned.”

The state executive is facing calls to take disciplinary action against Mr Goodwin and Mr Hardgrave at Thursday’s meeting.

Sources said Mr Hardgrave had demanded to chair the Sunday meeting – citing his senior role as LNP regional chair overseeing the South Brisbane branch – but was refused. The Australian understands YLNP president Kate Samios and South Brisbane branch chair Helen Craze, along with other members of the moderate faction, are making formal complaints about Mr Hardgrave and Mr Goodwin’s attempted intervention at the meeting.

State director Ben Riley has said it would be inappropriate to comment but under party rules, people can switch membership to a different branch if it is in the neighbouring federal electorate division. He issued a legal notice to The Australian on Tuesday night against publishing contents of the Goodwin and Hardgrave letters.