Abbott wants LNP campaign chief to stay on

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged the man who spearheaded the LNP's 2015 election campaign to stay on for one more poll despite the disastrous result.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has addressed the LNP state convention in Brisbane. (AAP)

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appealed to the Liberal National Party's campaign director to stay on for one more election despite the "terrible disappointment" of the 2015 result.

Mr Abbott addressed the LNP state convention in Brisbane on Saturday morning, thanking members for their support and acknowledging the work of former premier Campbell Newman, who was in January relegated to a one-term premier despite winning the largest majority in Queensland's political history at the 2012 poll.

"I want to say this - the longer the Palaszczuk government lasts, the better the Campbell Newman government will look," Mr Abbott reassured the party faithful.

The man who spearheaded the unsuccessful campaign, Brad Henderson, resigned as the party announced a review into what went wrong.

Mr Henderson had served in the role for more than a decade.

"I know the last campaign was a terrible disappointment," Mr Abbott said.

"But you have run some magnificent campaigns and I hope you might have one more in you. I know that's a vexed family question but my hope is that you might have one more in you."

Mr Abbott affirmed Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg as "the next premier of Queensland" and praised state president Bruce McIver as "a tower of strength in this great state".

The LNP's review into the shock election result, headed by party heavyweights Rob Borbidge and Joan Sheldon, was blunt in its dissection.

Hubris, a false sense of security, perceived arrogance and broken promises were all blamed and there was no doubt the leadership of the government played a role, the report said.

Mr McIver told the convention on Friday the defeat was the "mother of all reality checks" but declared the bitter taste of failure had left the LNP stronger.


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Source: AAP


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