Regions canvass LNP ‘freedom’

The LNP’s poor result in north Queensland in last week’s election has left members perplexed as to how they can win back seats in the former stronghold.

Burdekin MP Dale Last. Picture: Evan Morgan

The Liberal National Party’s poor result in north Queensland in last week’s election has left members perplexed as to how they can win back seats in the former stronghold, with some MPs calling for more freedom for regional candidates and a potential leadership position in the north.

It is a central theme behind Burdekin MP Dale Last’s push to be elected as deputy leader of the party in an upcoming partyroom vote after both Deb Frecklington and Tim Mander stood aside.

As in previous elections, the party’s third straight loss has seen the re-emergence of whispers that the LNP —created in 2008 when the Nationals and Liberal parties merged — should consider demerging and running as a coalition.

The issue is particularly acute in the former stronghold of north Queensland, where the LNP holds only two seats.

Critics of the joint venture say Nationals-leaning candidates felt hobbled by Liberal policies aimed at winning votes in the southeast and blamed it for driving voters to Katter’s Australian Party, which holds three seats in the north.

Most sources said a demerger was highly unlikely, pointing out consecutive wins in the federal and Brisbane council elections, and a majority within the party see a future in its current form.

John Hathaway, who held the seat of Townsville from 2012 to 2015 but lost his re-election bid on Saturday, said he was puzzled by the loss. “I thought we were on a winning ticket, as close as it was going to be,” he said.

“Everywhere I went, we got chest-poked about crime being the No 1 issue … yet the COVID stuff was only about 20 per cent of the conversation.”

Mr Hathaway, who joined the LNP in 2009, said the party did not need to demerge and was capable of winning as a joint venture. “I don’t think at all that the option is ever about winding back,” he said.

“While it makes it difficult to fight up here when Katter claims to be all things for the regional folk … we do need to run a campaign that is regionally based.

“All our core values can stay the same … and I don’t think we need to demerge to do that.”

The KAP boosted its margin and primary vote in two of its three seats on Saturday.

The LNP was given some hope, however, from its margin-extending wins in Burdekin and Whitsunday.

On Wednesday, Mr Last thanked his supporters and laid out his pitch for the deputy ­leadership.

“This is not a decision I have taken lightly but, for the benefit of the whole state, Queensland needs a senior voice from the ­regions,” he said in a statement.

“Given that before the election, the Labor government had a three-person leadership team, I think it is only appropriate that the LNP ensures that a regional representative not only has a strong voice in shadow cabinet but a senior leadership role.”