Veteran LNP members suspended over push for party reform

Here's Heath Goddard's response to the Queensland LNP State Director:

Mr Ben Riley,

Queensland LNP State Director

 

Dear Sir,

 

Mr Haycroft and I are in receipt of your correspondence of the 8th of December, suspending us from the LNP. You had warned us that if we proceeded with the formation of the Liberal Reform Association (LRA) and its inaugural meeting on the 19th November that our membership of the LNP would be terminated. We responded by saying judge us by what we do, not what you think we might do. We are after all trying to help the LNP become credible not harm it.

 

We have appended all the correspondence between us for the record.

 

Mr Haycroft and I have been continuing members of the LNP and its predecessor National Party for, in his case, 45 years, in my case, 35 or so years.

Both of us have been active and significant financial supporters.

Neither of us have any political ambitions but have become alarmed at the collapse of the Liberal Party, (LNP in Queensland,) membership.

Australia-wide, we have answered the call of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott to reform the Liberal Party by returning the power and responsibility to work-a-day rank-and-file membership, in particular young people who want to have a say in the future of our country. We have discussed our mission with him personally.

 

We believe the future of conservative-leaning politics in this country needs a mainstream political party with a minimum of 75,000 members in Queensland alone, (250,000 Australia-wide).

More specifically, the target median age should be in the 40s, not the 70s, as it is now.

Of the supposed 10,000 Queensland LNP members left, we estimate less than 1,000 would fit our target profile. (aged between 20 to 60, particularly women)

To be credible, the LNP needs a 70 times increase in the target profile membership.

We have deliberately not said that the LNP has become an elite club, desperate to retain power by excluding those who threaten the status quo.

We haven't said it because everyone knows that. More importantly, the elephant in the room is that the Crisafulli government cannot be re-elected if it is perceived as a party without a relevant membership base.

Everybody knows that as well.

 

Although their policies are attractive to conservative leaning voters, the main reason One Nation has not grown is because it too has virtually no effective members.

We believe to ignore the membership reality facing the LNP is to doom the Crisafulli government to a single term.

 

Every five years, the Queensland LNP review their constitution.

July 26th is the next scheduled time.

 

Much has to be changed. The delegate system in which members are denied a democratic representation has been gamed in particular by figures associated with Senator McGrath in order to secure his Senate pre-selection.

To be clear, we don't believe Senator McGrath has broken any rules or in any way has acted illegally or even unethically. He has simply taken advantage of some constitutional flaws which can be exploited by a well-organised team of supporters. Full marks to the Senator for his assiduous persistence in building that team.

 

The consequence is that his Senate pre-selection is now virtually assured. But at what price?

Moreover, he and his associates also have the numbers to replace Senator Canavan.

Matt Canavan is a conservative of considerable substance admired not just by Liberal and National Party members Australia wide but by the entire conservative voting base. He is worth at least two Senate quotas and is the key to a third Senate position for the LNP .

If Canavan loses pre-selection because Senator McGrath wants someone else, apart from the likely loss of the second Senate seat for the LNP, the effect on future LNP membership would be catastrophic.

 

Mr Haycroft and I are in concert that any democratic institution should be able to debate and change its rules of operation and not behind closed doors

 

We have just cited one constitutional problem that, if not addressed, will of itself doom the Crisafulli government, and lose Matt Canavan to Conservative politics.

There are a number of other constitutional provisions which have over time underpinned not just the membership decline, but the inevitable non-conservative policy settings that would never be allowed in a mainstream conservative party that was responsive to a large membership base.

Mass immigration and the net zero madness are but two examples.

We shouldn't forget that had the last Queensland election been held, even two weeks later, Labor would have been returned.

It is a fact that LNP support fell off the cliff in the last month.

It was a close-run thing and a harbinger of how effective an ALP campaign at the next election based on the potential illegitimacy of a future LNP government which has next to no party members, which has left the Olympic build in the hands of the CFMEU and has left health and education to be run by the ALP unions.

 

Mr Haycroft, fellow director of the LRA, Matthew Rowan and I are determined to reform the Liberal Party in Australia so that rank-and-file members will alone not only choose their local government and parliamentary candidates but formally assess their performance in competitive pre-selections at least 12 months before each election.

 

They will also select by ballot their parliamentary leaders, similar to the highly successful Canadian model.

Furthermore, all the nonsense disciplinary rules that have been used to coerce and control members trying to help the party and not hurt it, need to be repealed.

Any political party should welcome constructive debate not to try and suppress it.

 

To that end, we respectfully disagree with your demand for confidentiality. These rules must be changed and the best way to do that is to let everyone see how they are being misused.

We are trying to introduce changes that will massively increase the party membership so that the Liberal Party is both effective and representative.

By contrast, Mr Riley, you are the agent of those who want the party to remain small, unrepresentative and therefore doomed to ignominious irrelevance.

We believe you are inviting another two or three terms of labour.

We object.

 

We are fighting for the future of Australia through effective Liberal Party governments.

To this end, we will be appealing your decision to suspend us.  But more importantly we will continue the fight to reform the Liberal party.

 

 

Regards

 

Heath Goddard