Lawrence Springborg - Conservative Merger

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 queensland parties were tepid, as witnessed by the repeated failure of coalition agreements.

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. 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 Graeme 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 had to rescind his proposal.

On 26 July 2008, his vision of a united non-Labor force in Queensland finally became reality when both parties voted to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland. He has been described as the "father of the party" by successor John-Paul Langbroek.