“Disarray” is probably too generous. “Divided” doesn’t begin to explain it. Let’s try “disaster”. The Queensland Liberal Party is immolating itself before our eyes as pro-merger forces threaten court action to overturn last night’s emergency Liberal State Council outcome, and others simply urge Liberal delegates to show up at tomorrow’s cancelled convention anyway. Meantime, the Nationals are charging ahead with a new conservative party.
Last night’s meeting, which narrowly agreed to delay the merger with the Queensland Nationals was, Liberal sources say, one of the most acrimonious in the division’s history.
Along with Mal Brough, Federal Liberal president Alan Stockdale also attended the meeting, and Senator George Brandis as Brendan Nelson’s representative (ahead of Ian McFarlane, who is strongly-pro merger). The first hour of the meeting was taken up with points of order, with pro-merger forces — in part orchestrated by Santo Santoro’s faction — furious that Brough was trying to head off the convention less than 48 hours before its commencement.
In the end, however, Brough’s motion to “postpone the Constitutional Convention presently convened by the State Council for 26 and 27 July” was passed 26-21. Stockdale and Nelson — who cast his vote through the president, not through Brandis — voted in favour.
Pro-merger forces, including State Liberal leader Mark McArdle, were expected to go to court at lunchtime to overturn the decision. McArdle himself has called a partyroom meeting for this afternoon, with many assuming he will announce he is resigning the leadership to throw in his lot in with the Nationals. He and Santoro faction spear carrier and nominee for presidency of the new party Gary Spence spent this morning at the Nationals’ convention.
McArdle, deputy Tim Nicholls, and MPs Steve Dickson and Ray Stevens are all expected to defect to the new party regardless of formal Liberal involvement. Brough and Stockdale have also called their own press conference for 1pm.
This fairly accurately conveys the bitterness of the divide between both pro- and anti-merger forces, and pro-merger forces and those who favour a merger, but on a far more equal footing than proposed by the Nationals.
There were pro-merger protestors outside last night’s meeting, and there have been furious email exchanges among Liberals all week (Senator Sue Boyce, who is opposed to the merger, has been threatened by pro-merger members). Once the decision became clear last night, one State Electorate Council representative from North Queensland immediately declared that their branch would be resigning and joining the new party.
However, many members present at the Council meeting complained about the lack of information about the merger, and of being asked to vote for something they didn’t fully understand. There were a number of complaints about the failure of the party executive to circulate information about the merger process, which begs the question of what many of the 80+% of Liberal members who voted for the proposal thought they were voting for.
On an unrelated issue, but adding to the chaos, Liberal state director Geoff Greene is reported to have been suspended after last night’s meeting.
Its beyond me how the pro-merger factions think that the marriage will work at the grassroots level. I just cannot see the two groups getting on, as the culture of the two parties at the grass roots level is so different, Having attended party functions of both parties all I can imagine is the loss of pre-liberal membership, a bunfight or both. Getting the troops to turn up to the next election could represent a real challenge (espeacilally in Brisbane, where they need to win seats to form Govt). As the the inevitable “turn right” occurs I can only see upside for Labor which will increasingly become the part of the middle ground. The whole merger thing is a huge leap of faith and is in reality a National takeover.
The Liberals should have taken a really bold step and cast the Nationals adrift and run on their own. They could worry about coalition talks until after the election. They seem to be now nailing their flag to the mast of a slowly sinking ship. They have suffered the most by being tied to the Nationals.
Why the bold head-line, and the the false aura surrounding the latest developments. Leave it a couple of months and the ALP can be thrown into the mix as well with its deserters, when a percentage of them realise the proposed ETS is as unpalatable to the electorate as a plate of heated scatological offerings.
Will we eventually see a new Federal party, able to fulfill the Senate benches left cold and desolate due to the demise of the Democrats.
Er..I think its Merger II?? Anyway, the Hatfield and McCoys look rank amateurs compared to this conservative bunch of hicks. Twenty-five years on they’re still bickering about their divorce. Give us a break! Which is possibly what ‘Lazarus’ Lawrence Springborg pleaded when he faced his Federal National executive three years ago to explain his faith in restoring this defunct marriage. The two families are as hapless as the other. Springborg sadly looks the silliest ‘relly’ as he chants his mantra “the only loser in this is.. ”? And that’s despite Lawrie himself getting the electorate thumbs down as Beattie tossed the bridal bouquet to Bligh. Back in renewal mode, Lazarus Lawrence is convinced he still holds the key to the bed chamber. He’s probably right. But the federal Libs are having none of it in the wake of Howard’s presumption of there being ‘only one presence- the Liberals’. In the only state of the nation with a uni-cameral parliament, our deep north is better off tossing a coin every election and crossing its fingers to get a trade-off on political representation. Other than that for the immediate future, it’s Labor, ALP or Labor.