Nationals select David Layzell as Upper Hunter by-election candidate

The Nationals have revealed their Upper Hunter by-election candidate as the NSW Government prepares a declaration on coal.

Firing their first salvo in a bid to hold onto Gladys Berejiklian’s majority, the NSW government will on Thursday declare the people of the Hunter and their coal must not be “demonised”, saying they have worked “hard for the benefit of everyone in NSW”.

It comes as the National Party selected engineer David Layzell to contest the crucial Upper Hunter seat over frontrunner Sue Moore.

Upper Hunter candidate David Layzell.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

It was the mining industry that remained front-and-centre as Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet officially unveiled Mr Layzell — a 45-year-old engineer and father of four girls — as the man entrusted to retain the seat currently held by the Nationals with a razor-thin margin.

Mr Barilaro said Glencore’s Ravensworth Mine — one of some 15 mines in the Singleton area where coal remains king — was the “perfect backdrop” to announce Mr Layzell’s candidacy.

“The key thing here is the world is transitioning, and the world wants our coal,” Mr Layzell, from the tiny Hunter village of Clarence Town, said.

“This is a business of selling coal to the world.

“While the world wants coal, I think we should continue to sell it … We’ll continue to sell it, and we’ll continue to have jobs, and we’ll continue to have a strong economy in the Upper Hunter.”

Mr Layzell also took a swipe at former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was dumped earlier this week from his posting on the NSW Government’s Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board, as he railed against suggestions the Nationals’ support for coal was “shortsighted”.

“It’s not just pro coal, it’s pro jobs,” he said of his party’s stance.

“The problem is people like Malcolm Turnbull unfortunately (have) mistaken that education equals intelligence, that if you’ve got a bachelor’s degree you’re somehow not an idiot.”

“The truth is, it’s not just about coal, it’s about job security and the jobs that are here today … we will transition in time but that will be market driven and not by government intervention or ideology by former prime minister’s with big egos.”

In a bid to draw a line under the Malcolm Turnbull disaster, John Barilaro and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will campaign on Thursday in Singleton, positioning the government as a party that supports coal workers.

Mr Perrottet will cast Joel Fitzgibbon – Labor’s secret weapon in the Hunter who has strongly advocated for local jobs – as powerless in his party.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Malcolm Turnbull speaking on the Today show. Picture: The Today show

“He’s a pariah in his own party because of his support for coal mining, waging a one man war against a party machine he knows he is powerless to stop, declaring Labor has lost touch with traditional working people,” Mr Perrottet said, writing in an opinion piece in today’s Telegraph.

“It’s an honest warning from a man who knows the best thing for the Hunter is to keep Labor out of Government”.

In a veiled swipe at Mr Turnbull’s disastrous attack on the mining industry in the Hunter, Mr Perrottet said: “The death of coal has been greatly exaggerated”.

“With the Liberals and Nationals you know what you are getting. We have always backed Hunter mining, and we will always prioritise the people of Parkville over virtue-signalling and pandering to elites in Paris,” Mr Perrottet writes.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon. NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

In a brief nod to the rise of clean energy, Mr Perrottet said: “there are always changes in the industry, but change shouldn’t require demonising an entire industry”.

“We must address change pragmatically, without resorting to extremes, and the practical reality is, coal remains our state’s biggest export, and an integral part of the NSW economy.”

He laid out that mining directly employs 22,000 people in NSW and drives $1.5 billion in revenue.

He said that while demand in Asia is uncertain, “in some of those markets demand is expected to expand as developing nations lift their people out of poverty, preferring the Hunter’s higher quality coal over dirtier alternatives”.

He added that NSW still relies on local coal for 80 per cent of its energy needs because it remains the most affordable and reliable source of energy.

Mr Perrottet argues that Labor is “mortally conflicted on coal”.

“It is their kryptonite, leading them to say one thing in Singleton and the opposite in Summer Hill, even if their hypocrisy is obvious to everyone else,” he said.

“This is why unions are deserting the party that once stood for workers, but now stands divided, with many Labor MPs donning hard hats in the Hunter, but staging sit-ins with extinction rebellion when they’re in the city.”

Hours after the announcement, Labor accused Mr Barilaro of not knowing Mr Layzell “from a bar of soap”, claiming the party leader had introduced the new candidate as a former Dungog councillor, despite Mr Layzell never holding that post.

“It’s plainly obvious that candidate did not know that councillor from a bar of soap,” NSW Labor deputy leader Yasmin Catley said.

She said when Mr Barilaro had unveiled Mr Layzell as the Nationals’ candidate to Labor overnight, the deputy premier had described him as a councillor for Dungog – despite Mr Layzell never holding the role, after unsuccessfully running for election.

“David was standing next to him and did not set the record straight,” Ms Catley said.

“This is going to be a long campaign…started by dishonesty.”

“The leader of the Nationals is prepared to not tell us the truth about his candidate in the Upper Hunter and the candidate did not himself do that.”

She also referred to the pre-selection process, in which a 22-member local Nationals branch voted for Mr Layzell over the Barilaro-backed Singleton Mayor Sue Moore.

“It was so obvious last night that John Barilaro was blind-sided by that,” she said.

“John Barilaro ended up with mud on his face cause the candidate he was spruiking lost…(it) says a lot about his leadership.”

Ms Catley said Labor hoped to have a candidate secured early next week.