Lawrence Springborg

Lawrence James Springborg (born 17 February 1968) is an Australian politician and Leader of the Opposition in Queensland since 21 January 2008. He is leader of the new Liberal National Party. He has been a National Party of Australia member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 1989, representing the electorates of Carnarvon (1989-1992), Warwick (1992-2001) and Southern Downs (2001-present). He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2003 to 2006, and took the National Party to both the 2004 election and 2006 election. He resigned as leader after his second election defeat in 2006, and was replaced by his former deputy, Jeff Seeney. However, after only 16 months as leader and facing poor opinion polling against him, Springborg replaced Seeney to once again become Leader of the Queensland National Party.

Parliamentary career

In 1989 Springborg became the youngest person elected to the Parliament of Queensland, winning the safe Nationals seat of Carnarvon, on the Darling Downs. In the same year, the 32-year reign of the Nationals at a State level drew to a close. Springborg represented a new generation of Nationals not associated with the era of long-serving former Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and the allegations of corruption and maladministration arising from the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Subsequent redistributions forced Springborg to relocate to his current seat of Southern Downs.

The Nationals remained in opposition until 1996, when the Goss Labor government lost office following the 1995 state General Election and a consequential adverse finding in the Queensland Court of Disputed Returns and the resignation of the then Premier Wayne Goss. The reformed National-Liberal coalition took power under Rob Borbidge but only with the support of independent MLA Liz Cunningham. In 1998, shortly before the Borbidge government lost office, Springborg was sworn in as Minister for Natural Resources, again setting a record as Queensland's youngest ever minister.

The 2001 state elections saw a massive win for the Labor Party, with Premier Peter Beattie going from a one-seat to twenty-two seat majority, and the Nationals reduced to 12 seats out of the 89-seat Parliament. After the election loss, the Coalition with the Liberals was ended and Springborg was elected Deputy Opposition Leader.

Borbidge subsequently resigned as Leader of the Nationals and his place was taken by Mike Horan, father of international Rugby Union player Tim Horan. Horan proved to be ineffective against the popular and charismatic Beattie, and after widespread speculation and criticism of his Leadership, the Nationals elected Springborg as leader in 2003. Springborg immediately set about refashioning the state Coalition with the Liberals and attempting to re-energise his party. He campaigned energetically to raise his profile as a young and vigorous leader.

2004 election

The campaign for the 2004 state election relied heavily on Springborg's personal profile. He literally ran for much of the campaign, appearing jogging through State forests on electoral advertising emphasising his physical fitness. The Nationals marketed Springborg merchandise extensively, including life-size cardboard cutouts. In a move unthinkable for Nationals of an earlier era, he appeared in a Courier-Mail photograph clad only in a towel and ironing his own shirt.

Springborg's family life attracted some comment when media observers criticised his wife for not appearing alongside him during the campaign. Springborg angrily defended his wife's decision to stay home and care for their young family.

Throughout the campaign, Liberal leader Bob Quinn appeared at Springborg's side, intended to emphasise Coalition unity, but underlining for Liberal supporters their resentment at what they saw as their "second-fiddle" status.

Despite scandals involving electricity and child protection, as well as a motorway through the Gold Coast, an issue which destroyed the Goss Government, the Beattie Government was elected with its substantial majority almost completely intact. The Nationals gained a total of three extra seats and the Liberal-National Coalition, despite the efforts of both parties' leaders, again broke down.

Conservative merger

The failure of the two conservative parties to sign a new Coalition Agreement convinced Springborg of the need to merge the Liberals and Nationals at a state level. Presenting a proposal modelled on the Conservative Party of Canada, Springborg went about campaigning through 2004 for the support of both state party organisations in creating a new unified party.

The rural-based Nationals have historically been the dominant conservative force in Queensland, but increased urbanisation has meant that the Liberals have repeatedly attempted to gain dominance. "Three-cornered contests", where Liberal and National Party candidates compete for seats separately against Labor candidates and split the conservative vote, are common in Queensland. This situation is made worse by the fact that the state's Optional Preferential Voting system operates effectively as a first-past-the-post system and prevents Liberal and National candidates supporting each other by preferences. Relations between the two parties are tepid, as witnessed by the repeated failure of coalition agreements. The Liberal Party itself is bitterly divided within the state, and internal factional brawls are often acrimonious.

Springborg's proposal ran into early hurdles when John Howard, John Anderson, and other Federal Coalition identities dismissed the idea of a state-level merger. Bob Quinn and the state Liberals reacted cautiously, ultimately rebuffing Springborg's efforts. However, Springborg did attract strong support for the idea from the National Party at a State organisational level, with the Central Executive supporting his proposal in February 2005. Some within the state Liberal Party have also reacted positively. Springborg toned down some of his advocacy, however, and was content to announce a renewal of the Coalition agreement with the Liberals on 26 September 2005, aiming to maximise Labor's trouble regarding the scandal instigated by Dr Jayant Patel and the Bundaberg public hospital.

On 29 May 2006, plans for merger received a new life when the state division of the Liberal party announced its in-principal support for the idea. State director Grame Greene stated that the merged party "would effectively operate under the federal Liberal Party's model".

Disastrously for Springborg, however, senior figures within both the National and Liberal parties federally, particularly federal Nationals leader Mark Vaile, quickly spoke out against the proposed merger. By the end of the week, Springborg and Quinn had to rescind their proposal.

=Early state election 2006=

As water management became an increasingly important issue during the drought, Springborg criticised Labor's handling of the water issue. Amid speculation that the next state election would be called early, the Liberal Party deposed Quinn and elected Bruce Flegg as leader in his place, who has in the past had a poor relationship with Springborg. Springborg pressed Beattie to serve a full term and not call an election before one was due. On 15 August 2006, Beattie called an election for 9 September of that year. Springborg conceded defeat at 8pm on 9 September 2006. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/beattie-wins-historic-fourth-term/2006/09/09/1157222376444.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1]

In the wake of his second election defeat, he announced his resignation as leader of the National Party on 14 September 2006. His former deputy, Jeff Seeney ascended to the leadership position uncontested on 18 September 2006, alongside Maroochydore representative Fiona Simpson as Deputy Leader. [cite news
author = Steven Wardill and Rosemary Odgers
url = http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20431025-5005961,00.html
title = Seeney takes National Party reins
publisher = Herald Sun
date = 2006-09-18
accessdate = 2006-09-18]

Political comeback

After Deputy Fiona Simpson withdrew her support for current leader Jeff Seeney, he announced a partyroom challenge to take place on Monday, with former leader Springborg the front runner. There are also increasing talks of a merger to form a single 'non-Labor force' in Queensland. [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23074761-5013945,00.html Bring on challenge, says Seeney | The Australian] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/legislativeAssembly/documents/memberBio/SpringborgLawrence.htm Official Biography]
* [http://www.springborg.com Springborg.Com]