By Jeremy Sollars
Attention is rightly focused on this weekend’s Queensland election, but there’s one person around here for whom the outcome is already a done deal.
Lawrence Springborg is calling it a day in state politics, bringing to an end his tenure as our region’s representative on George Street in Brisbane, which has spanned nearly three decades.
He’s seen all the highs and lows of political life since first being elected to State Parliament at the tender age of 21, on Saturday 2 December 1989, when he won the old seat of Carnarvon for the then Nationals as Queensland’s youngest-ever MP.
The Free Times caught up with ‘The Borg’ in the last few days leading up to his retirement, which he spent clearing out his offices in Warwick and Stanthorpe and helping the LNP’s new candidate for Southern Downs, James Lister, out on the hustings, as well as attending local school graduations and other events.
Over a long black and a healthy-looking green juice combo in one of our local cafes, the self-confessed fitness fanatic reflected on his political triumphs and disappointments, and the sacrifices made when it comes to family due to a long career as a regional politician, which has meant extensive time spent away from home.
And it’s to home – the Springborg family farm at Yelarbon – that he’s headed after his retirement as an MP takes effect at midnight on Saturday.
While speculation in political circles continues over a possible shot at Canberra – specifically, the Senate, should a casual LNP vacancy arise between now and the next Federal election, or at that election itself, whenever it is held – Springborg is adamant that politics has lost its lustre for him.
He denied that he was bored with state politics when the question was put to him – after three unsuccessful tilts at becoming Queensland’s premier, in 2004, 2006 and 2009 as the Nationals and later LNP leader – and said the Southern Downs electorate had always been the most important thing to him.
But to use his words, the “thought of travelling to Canberra, being away from home again for long periods, it doesn’t really blow my hair back”.
At the same time, he refused to absolutely rule out future political options – he’s a politician after all – saying “your destiny, or your destination, is where you end up”.
“Look, I’ve had Canberra journalists ringing me asking me those questions, there’s been a lot of speculation,” he told the Free Times.
“You get to your destiny through a combination of chance and opportunity.
“I’m totally comfortable with my decision to leave state politics, you just know internally when it’s time to go, there’s no regrets.
“I didn’t want to end up the way I’ve seen others end up, you know, burnt out and surly.
“I’ve still loved the electorate stuff, but I’m a bit over the parliamentary stuff, including the travel.
“I’ll see where my mind is down the track, but the idea of federal politics, I can honestly say it doesn’t enthuse me in any way, not today, not in six or 12 month’s time.
“It’s been a huge privilege to represent this electorate – I’m not one of those politicians who uses their electorate as a stepping stone.”
Springborg says his immediate plan is to head back to the farm, which, he says, has become somewhat “dilapidated” thanks to his long absences, and do some travelling with wife Linda, who he laughingly says has “mixed feelings” about him being at home full-time, effectively for the first time in their marriage.
The Springborgs have four children – Megan, 25, Jens, 23, Laura, 20 and Thomas, 19.
“I salute my wife for putting up with me being away – she basically raised our children in my absence,” he says.
“I worked out that in the roughly 10,000 days I’ve been in state politics I’ve been away from home for about 7500 of those.
“I used to have five conversations on the phone every night when I was in Brisbane – I mean how many times can you have the same conversation about what happened at school today?
“The family really haven’t known any alternative.”
The Springborg’s eldest three children are making lives for themselves away from Yelarbon – Megan is in Tasmania, Jens is in the army and Laura is a teacher – but Thomas may be the farming hope of the side, he’s at uni studying agriculture and to use his father’s words he’ll “get some experience in ag away from the farm”, but a succession plan is being formulated.
When asked if he’s close to his children, Springborg says he’s “not any closer (to them) than any other father”, but regrets missing out on kids’ sport and other activities, thanks to politics.
“But I’m no different in that respect to people like truck drivers and people in the military,” he says, while also making it clear none of his offspring have political ambitions of their own.
As well as stints as Queensland’s conservative leader and as health minister in the Newman LNP government, Lawrence Springborg will also be remembered as the ‘father’ of the LNP in Queensland, having successfully negotiated the merger of the Nationals and Liberals back in 2008.
That was ahead of the 2009 election, which saw the LNP come up just 11 seats short of government – and making Springborg premier.
While the conservatives had their largest swing in 14 years, they failed to make enough ground in Brisbane, leading some in the party to speculate if Springborg had perhaps been “too country” for Brisbane voters.
The man himself denies this was a likely factor, saying that in the last decade or so in Queensland politics, the idea of a “long-term government” had ceased to exist, with more voters tending to swing between the major parties rather than being “bolted-on” to one or the other – and acknowledging the rise of alternatives like One Nation.
He also pointed to the conservative comeback in 2004, an election they went into with the Nationals having just 11 seats and the Liberals a mere three.
As for the relatively short-lived Newman Government – in which Springborg served as health minister – kicked out of office in 2015 after a history-making victory three years earlier in 2012, Springborg is philosophical, gently dodging a question about whether or not Campbell Newman is on his Christmas card list.
But he did admit that some of that government’s decisions – like sacking a lot of public servants – while necessary, in hindsight could have been handled better.
He believes that after being health minister Queensland Health was “not the page one basket case that I inherited” and is proud of “re-focusing” that department during his tenure.
The only non-farming role Lawrence Springborg has accepted for the time being is as patron of Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics, which is developing a malaria vaccine for international use.
Other than that it’s back to the farm.
“You’ll see me at the Warwick sheep sale pretty regularly,” he laughed.
“Carting a load of lambs every few weeks.”
