Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki to stand for LNP deputy leadership

Mr Janetzki confirmed on Tuesday morning he would seek to replace Tim Mander as the LNP’s deputy leader.

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki has confirmed he will nominate for the deputy leader position of the LNP at a party room meeting expected to be held next week.

“I will be nominating as a candidate for the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal National Party,” Mr Janetzki said in a statement.

“These matters are to be determined by my Parliamentary colleagues in the days ahead.

“As such, I will not be making any further public statements.”

Toowoomba South LNP MP David Janetzki

His comments come as Broadwater David Crisafulli announced his intention to stand as leader of the party, while current deputy Tim Mander confirmed he would not run.

“I nominate as someone who can offer the discipline to hold the government to account and the energy to start the four-year task of preparing the LNP for government in 2024,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“Our party, our supporters and those who chose not to support us this time around deserve nothing less.”

David Crisafulli.

Burdekin MP Dale Last has also confirmed he would seek the deputy leader job.

“I think we need to strike the right balance between having a leader in south east Queensland and having a deputy that represents rural and regional Queensland,” he told The Courier-Mail.

“Given the result of the election, I think it’s even more imperative that we have a strong voice and a leadership role based in the north.”

The leader and deputy leader positions were declared vacant after Deb Frecklington stood down as leader on Monday, after Saturday’s election loss, and Tim Mander stood down as deputy on Tuesday morning.

Dale Last.

Mr Janetzki’s confirmation that he would run for the seat comes after sources told The Chronicle he had been approached by some within the party to run for the position, as he was free from the stigma attached to LNP members that served in the Campbell Newman government.

The Newman Government governed from 2012 to 2015. Mr Janetzki was elected at a by-election in 2016.

Labor attacked both Tim Nicholls and Ms Frecklington at the 2017 and 2020 elections over their connections to the Newman Government.

Labor won both of those elections.

Mr Janetzki secured about 54 per cent of the first preference vote in Toowoomba South, with roughly 70 per cent of the vote counted.