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A push to radically change the process for electing Queensland leaders was withdrawn at the last minute on the first day of the LNP’s annual state conference, hours before Brisbane’s lord mayor urged his colleagues to broaden the party’s appeal or risk losing even older generations of voters.
The LNP Constitutional Convention, which takes place every five years, is running at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre this weekend, with members debating proposed changes to the rules of how the party operates.
Under the first proposal of more than 300 in a thick report provided to members, the LNP state parliamentary leader – the premier, when the party holds power – would be directly chosen by grassroots members, with every member eligible to vote through a postal ballot.
Presently, the leader is elected by LNP members of parliament alone.
Elections would have been held when the position became vacant, when a general election was lost, or if a motion of no confidence won two-thirds support at the party’s annual state convention.
The motion was brought to the convention on Friday by Geoff Harrison and David Goodwin, and would have given members – who tend to hold less moderate views than their representatives in parliament – significantly more power.
Similar rules govern state and federal leadership contests in the Labor Party.
Media were blocked from observing the session set to consider the motion, but multiple sources within the room confirmed it had been withdrawn.
Later, media were allowed in to watch a 30-minute speech from Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who made a pitch for the party to broaden its appeal as it faced the rising popularity of One Nation.
“The Liberal Party needs to understand Australia as it is, not as how we would like it to be,” he told the room.
“The Australia that John Howard led no longer exists. Australia has changed. And at the federal level we have lost generations of our supporters. Aspirational young people, gone. Middle-aged families, gone. Women, gone. Migrants, gone. Now even older generations are toying with voting for the party in orange.
“The future is in our hands, we must win these people back again.”
Amid the battle over the party’s direction, the three-day convention was also expected to feature a potential challenge to the expulsion of Graeme Haycroft and Heath Goddard.
The pair had been advocating for wide-ranging changes to the constitution – including allowing members to elect the leader – through their group the Liberal Reform Association, claiming they had the backing of new federal president Tony Abbott.
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