Fri, 4th July 2008

Statement by Hon Alan Stockdale - Federal President - Liberal Party of Australia

The Hon Alan Stockdale
Federal President
Liberal Party of Australia

The Federal President of the Liberal Party, Hon. Alan Stockdale, said today that he had been consulted about the merger discussions between the Liberal Party and National Party in Queensland.

“I support the merger of the two parties in Queensland to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland but had always made it clear that it was in the best interests of providing the strongest alternate to the people of Queensland at the next election that a current Liberal should lead the new Party organisation.”

“The Liberal Party has made very substantial concessions to facilitate the merger.” Mr. Stockdale said.

“We have agreed that the Nationals Leader, Lawrence Springborg, will be the Leader of the merged Party and the Premier when we win the next election and we have agreed to move the Nationals from number 3 to number 2 on the Senate ticket. We have agreed to arrangements that protect the National Party affiliation of sitting federal National MPs and their delegates to the Nationals’ Federal Council.

“These matters were not the subject of any vote and a vote on the Presidency would not be equitable as the Nationals will have significantly more delegates than the Liberal Party. It is this imbalance which means that the position of the Liberal Party needs to be guaranteed now – just as the Nationals have insisted on guarantees of their positions.

“To succeed, the negotiated outcomes must be fair to both of the current Parties. The condition that the first President of the merged Party is provided by the Liberal Party is necessary to achieve balance in the merger arrangements.”

“This condition is not the view of any one person – it is the view of the Liberal Party as a whole.” Mr. Stockdale said.

“We have worked well with the Nationals representatives but members of both Parties need to accept that guaranteeing that the inaugural President is a current Liberal is reasonable in light of the other ‘locked-in’ arrangements and will establish the essential balance in the merger arrangements.”