LNP differences a Coalition headache

Updated May 18, 2010 08:59:00

With Kevin Rudd facing criticism his government has fallen short of expectations in its first term, his campaign team obviously will be trying to exploit any weakness it sees in the Coalition.

And one issue that is raising its head is the merged Liberal National Party in Queensland.

On polling day, those people north of the border will vote for a single candidate from the combined party. There will be no three-cornered contests, and candidates will campaign under a LNP masthead.

But once in Canberra, MPs have to choose a party room.

It will work like this:

Current MPs, who are re-elected, will sit in the same party room they are in now.

If the Conservatives take a seat off Labor which has previously been held by the Coalition, the new LNP MP will sit in the party room where the former conservative MP sat.

The third category involves those MPs who win in new seats, and the Coalition says that has been negotiated amicably on an electorate-by-electorate basis, principally on where the boundaries fall. If the Conservatives take Flynn off Labor it will add to the National Party room in Canberra; and if Wright is won by the LNP, the victorious MP will sit with the Liberals.

It seems straight up and down. But let's take these two examples.

Firstly, an environmental issue which might ignite differences between the traditional National and Liberal view, in the way that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme did. The most prominent National Senator, Barnaby Joyce, highlighted the deep divisions between his party and many in the Liberal Party.

Secondly, it was also Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce who spoke a different language to his Liberal party frontbench colleagues on the economy.

His change of portfolios won't change it as an issue, once the election campaign swings into order.

Indeed Labor insiders say they will deliberately try and "drive a wedge'' between the two federal Coalition parties on those two fronts, and was now "scouting around for a big environmental issue'' to replace the CPRS ahead of the campaign.

Those on the Coalition campaign team dismiss the threat saying there were as many divisions within the Liberal party as there were between the two Coalition parties on the CPRS and Tony Abbott's leadership had put that issue to rest.

The LNP had also suffered no policy differences since its birth almost two years ago, and it would not be an issue in voters' minds, according to the Coalition.

That might or might not be true, but two MPs from the State Party quit this month to become independents, saying the LNP had lost its way, and behind the scenes differences continue to simmer.

The potential for the ALP to capitalise on divisions is also helped by the personalities involved, with the two most prominent federal Coalition Queenslanders being like chalk and cheese.

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce shoots from the hip and will fight like hell for the bush. He doesn't care if the fight involves the Liberals, but internal polling shows he has a huge following in Queensland, and will be used over others in many Labor seats.

Senior Liberal Senator George Brandis couldn't be more different in style. He's more strategic, probably a bigger team player, and still sounds uncomfortable when throwing his considerable power behind the merged party.

And it is that difference between the parties and their personalities that Labor is going to try and exploit, and the Conservatives have to defend.

It's already been decided that Senator Joyce will play a big role in two seats that Labor is desperate to hold, and the LNP believes it can win. Those two seats include the big regional working towns of Mackay and Gladstone.

Labor says it will be telling voters in those areas Joyce doesn't agree with his own party on the big issues; the Coalition says the outspoken Senator has more in common with the workers and miners in those towns than any Labor MP.

It all sets it up for a wonderful political show down, that north of the border has begun already.

Madonna King presents Mornings each weekday from 8.30am on 612 ABC Brisbane.

Topics: liberal-national-party, government-and-politics, elections, federal-government, political-parties, liberals, nationals, australia

First posted May 18, 2010 08:00:00