Crikey reported on Friday that many Nats were unhappy with the Howard-driven joint Senate ticket in Queensland. It’s not a sure thing just yet.

Meanwhile, Liberal sources have suggested to Crikey another reason for Howard’s office driving the joint ticket plan. The wash-up from the Santoro affair saw the fallen Minister’s protégé Mark Powell dropped to third place on the Liberal slate.

There is concern within the party that Powell could be open to similar revelations as those which have cruelled the candidacy of Michael Towke in Cook. Senator George Brandis and others are said to have been behind a plan to force Powell off the Senate ticket, avoiding factional warfare through the device of a joint ticket with the Nats. Howard’s office picked this ball up and ran with it.

The revelation that the joint ticket is in part a solution to internal Liberal problems will hardly endear it to already sceptical Nats.

Howard has consistently argued in favour of a joint ticket, pushing the “disunity is death” theme. However, the endemic disunity of the Queensland Libs is now spilling over to exacerbate divisions within their Coalition partner between Boswell’s and Joyce’s supporters. Howard’s actions appear to have inflamed internal tensions on both sides of the Queensland coalition aisle.