Lawrence Springborg
Queensland Parliament for Carnarvon | |
|---|---|
| In office 2 December 1989 – 19 September 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Peter McKechnie |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region | |
| Assumed office 28 March 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Graeme Scheu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lawrence James Springborg 17 February 1968 National (1989–2008) |
| Spouse | Linda Springborg |
| Nickname | The Borg |
Lawrence James Springborg
As Leader of the Queensland branch of the
Following this defeat Springborg played a leading role in the creation of the Liberal National Party (LNP), becoming the party's first leader but resigning after he led it to defeat at the 2009 Queensland election. John-Paul Langbroek was elected as his successor, with Springborg elected as Deputy Leader.[2] Following a move by the LNP organisation to install Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman as leader of the state Party from outside of Parliament, both Langbroek and Springborg lost their positions to Newman and Jeff Seeney respectively. The Newman-led LNP overwhelmingly won the 2012 election and Springborg became Minister for Health in the Newman Cabinet. After the 2015 election, Newman lost his electorate of Ashgrove and Springborg was once again elected leader of the LNP, with Langbroek serving as his deputy as the LNP returned to opposition after one term in office.[3] On 6 May 2016, Springborg lost the leadership of the LNP to Tim Nicholls.[4]
Early life
Born in 1968, Lawrence Springborg resided in the town Yelarbon for much of his younger life. He left school at the age of 14 and went on to work a farm on Queensland's Darling Downs for seven years before he was elected to Parliament in 1989 at the age of 21.[5]
Parliamentary career
In the 1989 Queensland state election, Springborg became the youngest person elected to the Parliament of Queensland, winning the safe Nationals seat of Carnarvon, on the Darling Downs.[5] 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 later seat of Southern Downs.[6]
The Nationals remained in opposition until 1996, when the
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 reelected Deputy Opposition Leader.
Borbidge subsequently resigned as Leader of the Nationals and his place was taken by
2004 election
The campaign for the
2006 election
As
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,
Political comeback and Conservative merger
After Deputy Fiona Simpson withdrew her support for current leader Jeff Seeney, he announced a partyroom challenge to take place on 21 January 2008, with former leader Springborg the front runner.[11] Springborg won the challenge and like his rolling of Mike Horan in 2003, Springborg's rolling of Seeney meant that Springborg once again ousted a leader prior to this leader being given a chance to lead his party into an election.
After resuming the leadership he began renewed talks of a merger to form a single 'non-Labor force' in Queensland. On 26 July 2008 this became reality when both parties voted to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland.[12]
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.
Prior to the 2006 state election Springborg's proposal ran into early hurdles when
On 29 May 2006, plans for merger received a new life when the state division of the Liberal party announced its in-principle support for the idea. State director Graeme Greene stated that the merged party "would effectively operate under the federal Liberal Party's model".
However, senior figures within both the National and Liberal parties federally, particularly federal Nationals leader Mark Vaile, quickly spoke out against the proposed merger.[15] 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.[16]
2009 election
Springborg led the LNP into the 2009 Queensland election; despite opinion polls predicting a close contest the ALP led by Anna Bligh retained government. A 20-seat swing to the LNP would have been required to deliver majority government. Springborg led the LNP to an eight percent swing and took 10 seats from Labor, the largest swing to the conservatives in over 14 years. However, the LNP came up 11 seats short of making Springborg premier, largely due to winning only six seats in Brisbane. Following his third electoral defeat, Springborg announced his retirement as party leader and instead was elected deputy leader under John-Paul Langbroek.[17]
Springborg along with the entire Liberal National Party supported changes to Queensland's abortion laws.[18] Springborg resigned as deputy leader on 22 March 2011, after Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman announced he was launching a challenge for the LNP leadership.[19]
2015 election
The LNP won the biggest majority government in Queensland history at the 2012 election, only to lose it after one term at the 2015 election. Newman lost his own seat, and Springborg was elected LNP leader for the second time. He briefly harboured hope of becoming premier in a minority government, but this was brought undone when independent Peter Wellington threw his support to Labor. Springborg thus became leader of the opposition for the third time.
Loss of leadership
Springborg lost the leadership to Tim Nicholls on 6 May 2016 in a leadership spill, by 22 votes to 19.[4] On 3 December 2016, he announced his retirement from politics at the next Queensland state election.[20]
Months before losing the leadership, there was speculation that Springborg would make a switch to federal politics and therefore resigning the leadership, by seeking preselection for the safe National seat of Maranoa following incumbent and Deputy Speaker Bruce Scott's announcement that he would be retiring at the next election due in 2016 but Springborg ruled this out.[21]
Local politics
In November 2019, he announced he would be standing as a candidate for Mayor of Goondiwindi Regional Council in the March 2020 election.[22] He was elected unopposed.[23]
See also
References
- ^ "Electoral Commission of Queensland". Goondiwindi Regional Mayor - Results. ECQ.
- ^ "John-Paul Langbroek elected new leader of Queensland LNP". AAP. 2 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009.
- ^ "Lawrence Springborg elected as new Queensland LNP leader, John-Paul Langbroek as deputy". ABC News. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015.
- ^ a b "Tim Nicholls topples Lawrence Springborg to become Queensland LNP leader". ABC News. 6 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Lawrence Springborg elected as new Queensland LNP leader". ABC News. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ Hui, Jin (30 October 2017). "'The Borg' bows out". Warwick Today. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "PM - Springborg takes control of Queensland National Party".
- ^ Frances Whiting (17 March 2009). "Sexing up the Queensland election". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Beattie wins historic fourth term". smh.com.au. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ Steven Wardill and Rosemary Odgers (18 September 2006). "Seeney takes National Party reins". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 September 2006. [dead link]
- ^ Bring on challenge, says Seeney Archived 25 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Australian, 19 January 2008.
- ^ Dunlevy, Gabrielle (26 July 2008). "Merger a win for 'grassroots democracy'". News.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ "Nats push for merger with Libs in Queensland". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 2004. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
- ^ Mark Todd (2 April 2005). "Lost in the bush". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
- ^ Dana Robertson (31 May 2006). "Qld conservatives dump party merger plans". Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ^ "New leader John-Paul Langbroek warns about LNP disunity". The Australian. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ Odgers, Rosemary; Wardill, Steven (3 April 2009). "New LNP leader John Paul Langbroek warns dissidents". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 5 April 2009.
- ^ "Abortion law changes pass". The Australian. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- Ten News), 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Lawrence Springborg to quit politics". The Courier-Mail. 3 December 2016. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Atfield, Cameron (3 August 2015). "Lawrence Springborg rules out replacing Bruce Scott in Maranoa". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ "Former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg confirms political comeback". Brisbane Times. 27 November 2019.
- ^ "Vote Result System | Electoral Commission of Queensland".
External links
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