‘Barilaro puppet’: NSW Nats at war over new leader Dugald Saunders

Barely a week after he took over as head of the NSW Nationals, senior party figures have lashed ‘Barilaro puppet’ Dugald Saunders: ‘He just wants to be king’.

Tensions have boiled over in the NSW Nationals party room barely one week after Paul Toole was rolled as head of the party

New leader Dugald Saunders was yesterday facing white-anting from colleagues after taking on the leadership with a promise to modernise the party. Mr Saunders won the leadership with a vote of ten to five.

However, two senior Nationals figures have slammed Mr Saunders, accusing him of being a “puppet” for former leader John Barilaro and for not having any policies to offer.

One senior figure said he felt the Dubbo MP was short on policies and questioned Mr Saunders’ ability to galvanise younger Australians.

“He doesn’t have any policies, he just wants to be king,” the figure said.

Some say Saunders doesn’t understand his party’s base.

“How’s he going to get the younger vote, everyone knows the younger generations care about issues-based politics and he’s got none.”

Another senior Nationals figure felt Mr Saunders lacked experience.

“He’s only been here for four years,” the source said.

“He talks about policies trying to attract the younger generation but he still can’t articulate what the plan is.”

They also spoke about their concerns around the new leader’s understanding of the party’s base.

“There are some Nationals who are quite upset about our base being characterised as a farmer chewing on a piece of straw,” the senior figure said.

Former leader John Barilaro. Picture: John Feder

“There are professionals and business owners in our party who feel that misrepresents them.”

This criticism was in reference to a comment Mr Saunders made last week when he said despite being a modern party some people viewed the Nationals as “sucking a straw in the paddock”.

‘BARILARO PUPPET’

The senior figures also accused Mr Saunders for being in the “Barilaro camp”, with one going so far as to call him a “Barilaro puppet” with other people “pulling his strings”

Mr Saunders said he was dismayed by the comments coming from his party but not entirely surprised.

“That was expected considering how things happened (with the spill) and people were going to be upset,” he said.

“I‘m just going to get on with it.

“People will bark in the background but hopefully come to the conclusion we need to get on with the job.”

The Nationals leader said the criticism against him was unwarranted.

“I’m not a career politician but I have a lot of worldly experience which is just as valuable,” he said.

“I retained the agriculture portfolio because NSW farmers are of the utmost importance to me.

“As for John Barilaro, he hasn’t been in parliament for nearly two years and he’s certainly not on the phone telling me what to do.”

NSW National deputy leader Bronnie Taylor argued those levelling criticisms at Mr Saunders were very much in the minority of the party room.

“We need to stop talking about ourselves and get on with the job of looking after our community,” she said.

Liberal party sources told The Daily Telegraph they were tired of the squabbles within the Nationals.

“Dugald is the leader, now just focus on holding the government to account and delivering for the people of NSW,” they said.

SAUNDERS LASHES MINNS OVER BARILARO COMMENTS

On Tuesday, Mr Saunders denied he would be John Barilaro 2.0 after premier Chris Minns accused him of being the leader of a “Barilaro faction” during question time last week.

“It’s a pretty ludicrous thing to say, I mean Barra hasn‘t been in parliament for a couple of years,” Mr Saunders said.

“I don’t reflect anyone who was in this role before me … I’m different to Paul Toole, I’m different to John Barilaro.”

The member for Dubbo was voted in as National’s leader last Monday after the party room rolled former deputy premier Paul Toole.

The premier said days after the spill he was aware there was “a Barilaro faction emerging in the National Party headed by the leader.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Mr Saunders said he wanted the party to be seen in a different light starting with how they market themselves to younger generations.

“We’ve got a lot of young people who don’t necessarily know who the Nats are as a party,” he said.

“I’m a leader of the modern Nats, not the Nats has-beens.”

When asked about policies the Nationals would pursue to attract young people, Mr Saunders said they would come later.

“To be honest the policies aren’t what are important right now. The policies will develop overtime as we’re working with young people,” he said.

“Engaging with young people is not a magic potion … it’s about reflecting what they want to be hearing about, things like cost of living.”

Mr Saunders said both his party and the Liberals needed to do some soul searching after their March election loss.

“I don’t think it is necessarily on us but I think we have to be honest with ourselves as well,” he said.

“I do expect and hope that the libs lift their game but we need to as well. We need to do better.”

CITY’S RAIL SERVICES OFF TRACK AND ON THE NOSE

Satisfaction with Sydney’s train network plummeted in November last year with infrequent trains topping the list of commuter complaints.

The increasing frustration with train services in November coincided with a month of industrial action across the rail network.

A departmental survey seen by The Daily Telegraph showed satisfaction with the train network dropped to 85 per cent six months ago.

Commuters at the start of the peak hour rush at Town Hall Station in Sydney during another train strike. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The figure marks the lowest satisfaction level since May 2014. The November survey found 17 per cent of customers were “dissatisfied” with the “frequency” of their train service.

While the satisfaction survey polled commuters during a month of industrial disruption, satisfaction on the rail network has also been trending down since 2020, departmental data shows.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen pledged to have “short, medium, and long-term plans” to do better.

“Passengers are telling us that their train is late, that they have to wait too long between trains, that their carriages are dirty and that when things go wrong no one tells them what’s going on,” she said.

“This is a big, old and complex train system with no easy or immediate fix.”