From today’s Crikey email:
If there’s one thing the Queensland Liberals don’t get marks for (well, actually, there a lot), it’s originality. NSW colleagues having a divisive leadership battle? Hey, let’s do the same in Queensland, after a few weeks’ damaging front page stories in the Courier-Mail largely inspired by leaks from contending factions.
The Santoro affair has been (accurately) seen as a damaging contamination of the federal sphere by the pathological state Liberal division. Bizarrely, the dethroning of King Santo and the endless squabbling about his replacement as Senator has now come back to haunt the state Libs.
As I wrote in Crikey a few weeks back, hitherto hapless state Leader Dr Bruce Flegg was on solid ground in opposing Howard’s Goodna bypass. It’s poison to his own constituents, and will probably lose Ryan MP Michael Johnson more than a vote or two. Flegg is in the good company not only of Liberal Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, but also Peter Beattie and the state government.
But now, apparently, the Santoro faction has damned him for acting against the interests of the PM. As if Santo hasn’t, well, been doing just that in recent weeks.
The weekend saw farcical allegations of a false email claiming that Flegg was under investigation for a secret slush fund (and it’s hard to be a self respecting Liberal MP in Queensland without at least your factional opponents believing you to be in possession of same). Claiming that a hotmail account was hacked, this being the Queensland Liberals, Flegg has referred the matter to police.
Now, Clayfield MP Tim Nicholls, a first termer, is refusing to pledge loyalty to Flegg, and discussing a leadership challenge with his colleagues. That would be six colleagues, presuming that he’s not lobbying Flegg himself. Flegg has called on Nats leader Jeff Seeney to sack Nicholls from the opposition front bench. Seeney would probably like to sack the entire state Liberal party from the front bench.
Nicholls holds the seat of Clayfield. At least he won it from Labor, unlike the last Liberal member, one Santo Santoro, who lost the formerly blue-ribbon territory (which includes the commanding heights of Brisbane society on Hamilton Hill) to Labor, who proceeded to hold it for two terms.
Putting a first term MP in the leadership didn’t work out so well last time when the first term MP in question was Bruce Flegg himself. His, and the party’s ratings, went south very quickly from the day of his coup.
Polls unfavourable to Flegg have been leaked from Liberal headquarters today. Santo Santoro is said to have a big hand in the leadership crisis.
Perhaps a consulship in Sicily should have been Santo’s golden parachute from the Senate. He’s clearly not taking Ian Macfarlane’s advice to spend more time with his family. He’s devoting his considerable energies to payback.
Whether the Liberal machine has any time to do a tracking poll amidst all the leaking, plotting, and police investigations is unknown. But Queensland voters, who’ve long regarded the Liberal crop of state MPs as a risible rabble, may now have come to the same conclusion about the Libs’ federal members. Santo’s made the connection for them, and the Libs’ implosion has been splashed all over the front pages.
If Howard could rewrite history, perhaps he’d like to go back further in time than the Joh for PM campaign and encourage Joh’s secession campaign in the 70s. Because it looks very much like Queensland will be the graveyard of his government this year.
Now that Santo has been Pyno kleened, he might just twist the Member for Clayfield’s arm, cut out the middleman so to speak and take over his seat.
Far easier than arranging coups in his spare time.
I’m sure the Member for Clayfield would like to spend more time with his family,persue business interests, or feign illness to promote the cause.
It seems anything is possible in the murky world of Queensland Liberal Party politics and the Member for Clayfield seems up for any bright idea.
He must be very vulnerable to offers now the latest coup seems to have failed.
As Johnson is my MP, I decided to give his office a call. I asked the staffer where the MP stood on the Goodna bypass. I didn’t accept being stalled by “I’ll send you a press release”, so I had to ask the question twice. “For or against”? For. (Although he still prefers the two bridge option.) No, he didn’t agree with what Flegg is saying either.
It will cost him a few votes, but then the bypass is at the bottom of the district in sparsely-populated Moggill – far away from dense Kenmore and The Gap and whatnot. I think the infighting will be more damaging, but I don’t know how much. People are pretty good at disassociating the State Libs from the Feds. in Qld. There must be quite a few Labor-represented State districts in Qld that fall in or intersect Liberal Federal districts. I live in one.
What? Don’t the Qld Libs even have the right to nominate their own frontbench team?
As I understand the Federal scene, the Nats say who of their own will be on the frontbench and the Liberal Leader decides what portfolios they will get (Primary Industry and Transport are considered Nat fiefdoms, I think).
A nagging question that might have an obvious answer, but why doesn’t Premier Beattie refer the ex- Sen. Santo’s possible faviouritism in awarding aged care beds to a political mate to Queensland’s CCC?
Not covered? No Queensland law affected? No Flegg call? As an NS welshman I’m puzzled but three decades of ear bashing on north of the border shennanigans, maybe I should be immune.
I guess that is indeed the reason, pablo. It was a Federal decision.
David,don’t forget that the whole aborted coup began last weekend with anger over the Seeney directive to Flegg that if the Libs ever gain more seats than the Nats Seeney will still be premier.
Seeney has been totally dominating Flegg this year and all Flegg can do is bow, nod, salute and curtsy in Seeney’s presence. Seeney took control after Flegg stood up to him for a day on purified recycled water and he has been under Seeney’s thumb ever since.
Seeney and Flegg made the deal without the other state libs being given any say. I can understand their anger and it is hard to imagine why Flegg would agree to such an insane concept. I also love the concept that the Member for Clayfield is too inexperienced to lead but Flegg isn’t, and McArdle isn’t.
McArdle was going to challenge Flegg after the dismal campaign performance of Flegg late last year but McArdle could not muster the numbers either. I mean how hard is it to get four or five people to join them in a coup? It is beginning to look like superglue is needed to get Libs to stick together
I’m sorry Mark but your analysis is not entirely accurate. The “Santo” faction is predominantly represented in the state parliament by Nicholls and Langbroek. Langbroek is by FAR the preferred option, however internal polling indicates that a Brisbane-based leader is necessary in order to make the seat breakthrough that the state Liberals desperately need. Remember, this was one of the main arguments that Flegg used against Quinn to roll him. Given that, Nicholls is the only other option.
As a factional colleague, McArdle would be a far better option than Flegg but again he is a non-Brisbanite as well. When Flegg bumped Quinn he bumped off one of his own (anti-Santo) comrades. In doing so, he immediately lost the trust of Stuckey who was a Quinn fan. Ray Stevens owes Flegg no favours either despite their broad factional ties. That leaves Flegg perilously short of a majority.
Cross-factionally, Flegg’s leadership is terminal. It is only a matter of time. He has suffered from an appalling choice of staff (factional allies rather than skilled media operatives or advisors) who knifed him during the election. Now, he cannot find anyone decent to work for him! He has the dubious distinction of having foes in his own faction and in the Santo grouping! I would not be surprised if Jan Stuckey emerges as a compromise candidate over the short-medium term. She is relatively faction-free.
Bottom line, this really has very little to do with organised factionalism and is more a case of competency vs incumbency. Flegg is no high-powered factional player and only won his own preselection by one vote against that infamous challenger backed by Michael Johnson – Russell Galt (oh the stories!!!) Granted, Flegg’s quipps about Santo certainly haven’t helped his case much either. Flegg was a probing opposition front-bencher but as a leader his strengths don’t lie in cogent leadership!
Stuckey made an absolute fool of herself with her latest sojorn in the Parliamentary Priveleges and Ethics Committee recently and is not up to the task of leading anybody or anything anywhere. Best left out of serious discussions I would say.
steve and antonio, thanks very much for the background.
Really? Someone from the Gold Coast whose sister is a TV personality can’t be leader and win seats in Brisbane? That sounds a little unambitious (not surprising, I guess).
I suppose it’s important to remember that plenty of people have moved to SE Qld who may have previously voted Liberal, but never National in their previous home state. It’s a real shock to see a Liberal Party under the thumb of the Nats, especially in this day and age.
Perhaps the next successful Qld State Liberal leader will be an interstate immigrant, with instincts unused to kowtowing to this overweening National Party.
Do either of you think this is a structural problem for the Libs, or could it be solved with the right ’strong leader’?
Sorry, Antonio, but the inside story as revealed by you kinda reinforces the point.
Terminal factionalism and disunity. And cross-factional intra-factional disunity!
I’d like to think it was terminal but forty years in the wilderness might teach them something.
We did have Borbidge as a Nat Premier for five minutes once but he was a Victorian who quickly lost his way.
Read the Commitee’s Report on Stuckey’s latest effort here.
Not a good look I’m afraid.
Mark:
The Liberals in Queensland, as a party, have well-and-truly had the pork sword. As I said elsewhere, they should stop annoying the voters with their shenanegans, just face up to reality ….. and amalgamate with the real pro-business conservative party: the Australian Labor Party.
That the Liberals have finally got themselves into such an unholy mess is hardly surprising: they have stifled their back-benchers; they have chased away worthy candidates for pre-selection; they have attacked and harmed their supporters — small-businesses, migrants, war veterans, investors, retirees and …. [dare I use the term on LarvatusProdeo?] ….. housewives.
Time to close the curtain on this whole ridiculous farce and make a fresh start. Now, what’s next on the program?
Bruce Flegg?
Hmmm, last time I looked Bob Quinn was leader or was it…the Liberals have had so many.
It’s totally unoriginal to say that the Liberals in Queensland are suffering from of a long-standing case of fighting over the spoils of opposition.
“He has suffered from an appalling choice of staff (factional allies rather than skilled media operatives or advisors) who knifed him during the election.”
So Antonio didn’t get a job we can presume?
Steve,
Actually like myself, Bob Borbidge is a South African! Stuckey is a bit of a goose but more goose-like than Flegg not having a Health Policy when the election was called? Ahem.
Darlene,
I have always worked in the private sector and would NEVER work as a political staffer (cannot imagine a more unfulfilling form of employment!). Full disclosure: I am the manager of a private medical research firm which does not receive government funding. I have NEVER applied for nor sought employment as a political staffer. I was actually trying to provide some background to Flegg’s ongoing troubles. Nice try with the subtle personal attack though. High fives!
Graham:
Heard it before about both the ALP and the Libs. The state Liberals will come back but it will take a substantial amount of time.
Kim:
The Brisbane-based Qld Libs are fcuked. Membership is so bad I cannot even begin to describe. Watch for the real talent to eventually come from a regional area – ie. North/South Coast. The real story about the Qld Liberal Party is that the majority of the problems are Brisbane-based and rooted in class. Santo draws much of his support from branches in “new-money” and “working-class” areas of Brisbane. Santo’s supporters tend to be white or South European migrants to Australia of 30 years or more standing. The other side tends to draw support from “old money” and “asians”. There really is a marked difference in the sociological composition of both groupings worthy of further investigation. Obviously, I am stereotyping here and painting with broad strokes.
David:
The problem is structural and also membership composition based. Both sides increasingly draw their support from completely differing demographic groupings – which will make the process of reform much more painful in the short-medium term.
I don’t think so, Antonio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Borbidge
Point well taken Kim.
For some reason I was sure that Rob Borbidge held South African citizenship which was the main prohibiting factor against him going into Federal politics.
I will do more research into it!
“I have always worked in the private sector and would NEVER work as a political staffer (cannot imagine a more unfulfilling form of employment!). Full disclosure: I am the manager of a private medical research firm which does not receive government funding. I have NEVER applied for nor sought employment as a political staffer. I was actually trying to provide some background to Flegg’s ongoing troubles. Nice try with the subtle personal attack though. High fives!”
So what that you haven’t worked as a political staffer. There are good political staffers and there are bad political staffers. There are crap people working in medical research as well. “The background” is your opinion so don’t pretend it’s non-partisan or non-factional. Cripes!!! I’d high-five you back, but nope.
The Liberals in Queensland have been a joke for a couple of decades.
Antonio, Can you give us a pointer as to why the Parliamentary Liberal team is in the Queensland Parliament at all.
They rarely ask any questions without notice to Ministers beside Beattie and Bligh and let the Nats dominate them at every turn, speeches often run short of time allotted.
I just searched hansard for the record of Langbroek and it appears that he has done very little besides voting since being there. Ditto for Stuckey and most of the eight Liberal members really.
They voted against recycled water, all the pipes for the watergrid and basically what their role is in the Queensland parliament seems to be a mystery. Can you shed any light on what all these factional warriors actually do?
These are the number of speeches listed in Hansard for each Liberal member since the election. Hardly a ringing endorsement of hard work!
Dickson 8
Elmes 10
Flegg 30
Langbroek 24
McArdle 18
Nicholls 19
Stevens 6
Stuckey 17
Darlene,
You made a jibe that I didn’t get a political staffers job. My response was that I didn’t apply for one nor solicit one nor have I ever done so. How that would even be relevant to my earlier comments is beyond me. I have never pretended to be anything other than a Liberal. My politics are definitely right of centre. In the party spectrum I consider myself a social & economic liberal. In the Queensland party I have had dalliances with both groupings but now consider myself unaligned. I have friends in both groupings.
Yes it’s a truism that there are crap political staffers. The problem for Bruce Flegg is that he seems to have had most of them! When your own staff are leaking stories to the media against you during an election campaign PLUS booking you in for a media conference without inviting any media – I would say that you have problems. A lot of this stuff is on the public record anyway.
What is worse is that good people are now very unwilling to work in Flegg’s office because they see him as a dead man walking. An investigation into the calibre and background of the current staff would speak for itself.
Steve,
My view is that the parliamentary party is really out of its depth at the moment. There is relatively little experience there or knowledge of the relevant procedures. Another factor is the toughness of Jeff Seeney. He seems to have well and truly smacked down the Libs as a bunch of hopeless rabble much to the chagrin of the average Liberal party member.
Another factor is that talented people from the private sector don’t seem to be getting preselected into winnable seats. Case in point – the last two candidates for the VERY winnable seat of Indooroopilly. I don’t see the state Liberal party digging up a “Chris Bombolas” any time soon!
Encore une fois Kim,
I have had it confirmed by a very reliable source that Borbidge is indeed a dual South African/Australian citizen and that the Biography on Wikipedia is somewhat inaccurate. Borbidge’s own bio of himself appears on the Samuel Griffith Society website here: http://www.samuelgriffith.org.au/papers/html/volume10/v10app2.htm
My source informs me that one of Borbidge’s parents was South African hence he was educated for a significant period of time at Overberg on the Western Cape.
Darlene:
Yes but a pretty destructive joke.
Antonio:
No, your broad brush-strokes are just fine – especially on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast influences – but it is all too little and too late, no matter how staunch its members in those areas may be.. And yes, when Tom Burns took over the ALP in the Queensland Parliament way back in the mists of ntime, the ALP was in a very sorry state ….. but the situation for the Queensland Branch of the LiberaL Party in 2007 is very different indeed.
They are terminally moribund; not even magic spells, celebrity candidates and millions of dollars can save them now. Ever hear of the mighty United Australia Party of back in the ‘Thirties?….. same coffin; different corpse.