The Courier-Mail -

AN emerging backlash within the Liberal Party is determined to kill Lawrence Springborg's latest bid to create a new conservative force.

Influencial Liberals yesterday broke their silence over the amalgamation and insisted Mr Springborg's plan to merge the Nationals and Liberals was self-serving and doomed.

Former state president Bob Carroll yesterday criticised Mr Springborg for revisiting the issue and suggested exiting the Coalition might be necessary to ensure both parties concentrated on appealing to their separate constituencies.

His comments are likely to fuel concern in both parties that Mr Springborg is aware his proposal is likely to fail and plans to use the Liberal's reticence as reason to rebrand the Nationals as a stand-alone conservative force.

Despite federal leader Brendan Nelson saying he has an open mind on a Queensland merger, other Liberals oppose the idea, including senators Russell Trood and Sue Boyce.

Mr Carroll, who was president from 1997 to 1999, told The Courier-Mail that the Nationals were motivated to merge because they knew they were a spent political force.

"If there is going to be a Coalition government again in Queensland it is going to be led by the Liberal Party,'' he said.

Mr Carroll said the Nationals should be concentrating on winning back seats they lost to independents while the Liberals needed a clear run in the southeast. To achieve this, he said, consideration should be given to operating seperately while in Opposition.

Mr Carroll said he was confident the Liberal's state council would dismiss any merger proposal when it meets on February 3. Senator Trood labelled Mr Springborg ``self-serving'' while Senator Boyce described the proposal as `"bizarre''.

Mr Springborg was unperturbed, saying if Mr Carroll and the Liberal senators thought they were in the majority they would let the merger be decided by their party members.

`"All we have got now is desperation from people who are fast running out of excuses,'' he said. Mr Springborg said the Nationals were aware they had issues but so were many Liberals -- the difference was those that supported a new party were prepared to act.

"Anyone who seeks to claim that everything is right is living in a different world, possibly a different dimension,'' he said. "By seeking to destroy this they are actually destroying everything they profess to believe in - a conservative government in Queensland.''