[size=6]LNP rout in Queensland 'catastrophic' and leaves Tony Abbott terminally wounded, federal Coalition MPs say[/size]
By political editor Chris Uhlmann
Updated 19 minutes agoSun 1 Feb 2015, 9:11am


The rout of the Liberal National Party in the Queensland election is being described as "catastrophic" by federal Coalition MPs, with some claiming the Prime Minister is now terminally wounded.

"All we are talking about now is the timing and method of execution," one Queensland MP said.

"This is catastrophic, unimaginable," said another.

Labor looks set to pull off a stunning victory in a cliffhanger election, after securing a double-digit swing that has ended the political career of Premier Campbell Newman.

Another MP said that the party's only choice was to make a change or risk the same fate that befell the Coalition governments of Queensland and Victoria.

There would only be three credible candidates to replace Mr Abbott as leader: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop; Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull; and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison.

None of these contenders has been agitating for change, or courting numbers.

Although Ms Bishop has been touted as the most likely to take over, there is an emerging consensus Mr Turnbull has the best chance of recovering the Coalition's position; because he has the most fully formed public image.

It has been suggested the Prime Minister is safe because there are three contenders, because it is assumed they will fight among themselves for the top job.

However, the three are quite close and it is possible they could come to a consensus on who should lead.

The strong suggestion in the wake of the Queensland vote is that none of them would launch a challenge, as the preferred option is for Mr Abbott to stand down.

"I think the first response has to come from him," one senior Coalition MP said.

"He has to, in his mind, resolve what is in the best interest of the party and the country."

But if that decision was to stay on as leader, then the party would have to respond to it, he said, which suggests the Prime Minister's future is no longer his decision alone.

The National Party MPs and senators do not get a vote in a Liberal leadership ballot and one said the party would not countenance anything that smelled of chaos.

If there was a messy leadership spill it might threaten the Coalition, he said.

The Prime Minister is preparing for a major speech on Monday, which is supposed to set out the Government's agenda for the year.

Now it looms as another exercise in damage control.

Love a good adobo but with the Socceroos winning you should be inviting us around for a lechon :lol:

Who seriously considers it awful when a state gets rid of the people that were essentially prostituting the fucking state? I will never get it.

How does a mere state prostitute itself? Does it have a secret ass or vagina somewhere? I will never get it.

The state doesn't do it, the people in charge do mate. You think it's awful getting rid of the LNP after they sold your kid's future for a few more zeroes in their own bank accounts - I'm not even going to attempt to talk to you about it.

#CommunistABCListener

The proceeds from the sale can be used to fund the infrastructure

The infrastructure that is financially bunk?

The proceeds from the sale can be used to fund the infrastructure

Social, economic benefits and all that

Like the social & economic benefits of a FTTP NBN and social & economic detriment of a FTTN NBN?

Yes exactly. By investing in roads and rail we can enjoy trillions in social and environmental benefits and save the world.

Top rusty kek

The proceeds from the sale can be used to fund the infrastructure

Objectively the worst prime minister we have ever had.

It honestly depresses me that anyone thought he'd be anything but this. It was plain as day.

Cue the lazy "both sides are as bad as each other" argument. All political parties have their flaws but not all of them produce terrible governments like the current Federal and former Victorian and Queensland governments.

It honestly depresses me that anyone thought he'd be anything but this. It was plain as day.

Cue the lazy "both sides are as bad as each other" argument. All political parties have their flaws but not all of them produce terrible governments like the current Federal and former Victorian and Queensland governments.

Oh jeez what a coincidence that all "terrible governments" happen to be LNP ones. Political bias wouldn't be shining through right now would it? Or do all left wingers transcend the human condition and are completely objective and bias free?

It's all perception how you judge a governments performance. There are people like Tanya Plibersek who gave the form ALP government a 9/10 for performance, this despite being tossed out office in a landslide and changing leaders twice. Naturally there are going to be those who are extremely critical of the ex governments performance, such as most of the general public.

Perhaps the best way to judge a government is to see how they fare at the elections, such as the recent QLD election, where the LNP held onto around 41 seats. This despite going to the election on the platform of leasing assets, the same platform (retroactively) that saw Labor win only 7 seats at the 2012 election. 41 seats out of a possible 89 isn't such a bad result is it? They could've easily won the election had they not proposed to sell assets, easily.

As for the current Federal government, while the performance has been generally poor, you also have to consider the role the senate has in shaping that performance, whereas the ex government pretty much had a free passage through the senate and sucked anyway.

, ending the mining super profits tax that was working exactly how it was supposed to