LNP allegiance vote

Groom party members decide future of Coalition Government

GROOM Liberal National Party members were last night deciding whether they should switch the seat’s federal allegiance from the Liberal Party to the National Party.

The decision of these select Toowoomba party members could have massive ramifications for the Federal Coalition Government.

At time of print, party members were half an hour into one of “the biggest decisions” they would have to make.

Groom has long been considered a Liberal seat, with every member from 1988 onwards being either a member of the Liberal Party or choosing to sit in the Liberal Party in Canberra – as since the LNP merger in 2009, Federal MPs sit in either party room that aligns with their views or that of their local LNP branch.

Groom LNP party members voted in 2015 to allow then MP Ian Mcfarlane to defect to the Nationals from the Liberals, but that was blocked by the LNP executive in Brisbane.

Party members told The Chronicle the process had come about quite quickly and there was some confusion over the process of the vote.

An agenda for the meeting sent to party members said the vote would be one of the most important decisions they’d have to make.

It is understood the push to turn the seat National was to convince the party’s deputy president Cam O’Neil, a Nationals-aligned LNP member, to run in the seat, though Mr O’Neil previously told News Corp he wasn’t interested in the role.

There has been some speculation that North Queenslandbased Senator Matt Canavan would also be parachuted into the seat if it were to turn into a Nationals seat, though that is unlikely.

tobi.loftus@thechronicle.com.au

The Courier-Mail yesterday reported senior Federal Cabinet sources said “faceless” Nationals in Canberra were attempting to “blow up” the government by a “rushed” bid to snatch Groom from the Liberals.

It would give the Nationals more power within the Coalition and potentially another frontbench position.

LNP executives did not respond by deadline.