Former Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman,
resigns from the Liberal National Party
One of Australia's highest-profile and most successful Liberal Party identities, Former Queensland Premier and Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman AO, has resigned from the party citing a failure of the political wing to stand up for the party's core values.
"Whilst I have unwavering admiration for the passion, commitment and dedication of the rank-and-file members of the party, I have in recent months become dismayed that the political wing has failed to stand up for our core values of fiscal responsibility, smaller government, support for small business, the elimination of red tape and the defence of free speech and liberty," Mr Newman explained.
"The last straw for me has been the destruction of people's livelihoods, jobs and freedoms under governments' heavy-handed response to Covid-19 across the nation," the former Premier said.
Mr Newman's resignation ends a family legacy of leadership within the party that has spanned two generations, two Australian states, and five decades, beginning with his father Kevin's stunning victory over the ALP in the Tasmanian federal seat of Bass, following the resignation of Gough Whitlam's Deputy Prime Minister, Lance Barnard, in 1975.
"It is important to keep Australians safe, but it is equally important to keep us free. The two concepts do not need to be mutually exclusive. Even in a pandemic, freedoms can be maintained and respected without bringing undue risk to public health and safety. Our federal and state governments have failed to honour the spirit of individual freedom that is at the heart of not only Liberal Party values, but wider Australian values."
Mr Newman, who remains Brisbane-based, has been working full-time in the private sector since leaving politics, as well as providing political analysis and
