One of Malcolm Turnbull’s own MPs has turned on the prime minister following a poor showing for his party in the Queensland election.
George Christensen, a federal Nationals MP from north Queensland, savaged his boss after the LNP suffered a 7.8 per cent swing against it on primary votes.
It occurred as One Nation’s vote shot up by 12.8 per cent, with support stronger in the state’s north.
George Christensen, a federal Coalition MP from Queensland, has turned on Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership is under pressure after a poor result for the Queensland LNP
‘To Queenslanders who voted One Nation, I’m sorry we in the LNP let you down,’ Mr Christensen tweeted on Sunday.
‘We need to listen more, work harder, stand up more for conservative values and regional Queensland and do better to win your trust and vote.’
The member for Dawson said the blame for the poor showing of Queensland’s Liberal National Party opposition rested with Malcolm Turnbull, whose government no longer has a majority in the House of Representatives.
‘A lot of that rests with the Turnbull Government, its leadership and policy direction,’ Mr Christensen tweeted next to an image of post-it note with the word ‘Sorry’.
The Nationals member for Dawson in north Queensland blamed Malcolm Turnbull for the mess
Malcolm Turnbull (pictured campaigning in the Bennelong by-election with Liberal candidate John Alexander) said the Queensland election was about state issues
Mr Turnbull was quick to downplay any link with his government on Sunday, as he campaigned in northern Sydney for the Bennelong by-election.
‘[Voters] know the difference between state and federal issues, and that was a state election fought on state issues,’ he told reporters.
Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appears on track to form a majority government in her own right, as Australia’s first ever female premier to successfully lead a major party at two elections.
‘I am confident of a Labor majority,’ she told reporters on Sunday in her safe Labor electorate of Inala, in Brisbane’s south.
Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is on track to form a majority government in Queensland
‘We will continue to listen and continue to deliver. Tomorrow, we will be back at work.’
Labor presently has 42 seats in its column, after winning from the LNP the Brisbane seats of Aspley, Mansfield and Redlands, and the Gold Coast seat of Gaven.
ABC election analyst Antony Green predicts Labor will win 47 seats to have a majority while the LNP will have about 40.
But Ms Palaszczuk, who inherited her seat from her father Henry Palaszczuk in 2006, has warned the final results might not come through for up to two weeks.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson is urging the Liberals to dump Malcolm Turnbull by Christmas
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party has so far failed to pick up any seats, but it stands a chance of picking up the Labor-held seat of Mirani in central Queensland and the LNP seat of Hinchinbrook, in the state’s north.
The Queensland senator said the Queensland result highlighted the need for the Liberal Party to roll Malcolm Turnbull as leader.
‘People are not happy with Malcolm Turnbull, that’s been for a long time,’ she told Sixty Minutes interviewer Liz Hayes.
‘I just feel he’s not decisive, he’s not a leader. I think they’ve got real problems.
‘If they’re going to have a leadership challenge, it has to be very, very soon and I believe it should happen this side of Christmas.’