Leslie Williams: Port Macquarie MP says she’s had hundreds of emails, phone calls after party switch
NSW MP Leslie Williams says she has been flooded with support from her Port Macquarie electorate following her decision to defect from the National Party on Sunday. The decade-long serving MP said she maintains significant trust in the Coalition, but did what she had to instil confidence in her community.
Mid-North Coast
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Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams’ decade-long association serving the people of Port Macquarie for the NSW National Party might be over, but there will be no change to the way she represents the electorate moving forward as a Liberal.
Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams’ decade-long association serving the people of Port Macquarie for the NSW National Party might be over, but there will be no change to the way she represents the electorate moving forward as a Liberal.
Ms Williams made the switch within the NSW Coalition from National to Liberal yesterday, citing a disagreement with her National Party colleagues and their handling of a controversial koala planning policy as the motivating factor.
“I did not get into politics to play the game,” Ms Williams told The Mid-North-Coast News.
“I got in there because I wanted to get better outcomes for my community.
“I obviously didn’t agree with the actions of my colleagues over the last couple of weeks – that has been made public.
“I didn’t support the threatening letter that went to the [NSW] Premier, and I didn’t support the threat to go to the cross bench.
“I don’t know how that would benefit my community.”
It has been 24 hours since her announcement, and the popular MP said she has been bombarded with support from those whose trust and confidence she has earned over the last 10 years.
“I’ve received hundreds of emails and phone calls of support … not only today but over the past week of people expressing their disappointment in terms of the actions of my National Party colleagues in relation to this matter,” she said.
“Nothing changes for me … I have always put my community first, I said it in my inaugural speech when I was first elected, and nothing has or will change. I will always be front and centre in terms of the actions that I take.”
Details of the MPs decision were made public yesterday, but Ms Williams said she notified the Deputy Premier and Nationals Party Leader John Barilaro last week, that she did no support the drastic measures taken by the party in opposition to the Koala Habitat State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) reforms.
She said she did not consult him, however, about her decision to defect given he had already taken leave to deal with his mental health.
“This was a decision that I needed to make,” she said.
The SEPP, which was passed in to law last year, was revised from a 1995 version in an attempt to make it easier to identify and protect koala habitat.
It has been a contentious issue for the Nationals, because it left those they represent – rural land holders and farmers – in limbo worrying about widening definitions of what constitutes core koala habitat, such as an increase in the number of koala habitat feeding trees.
In essence, the Nationals argued the updated policy made it difficult for farmers to undertake a reasonable proportion of clearing activities on their farms.
It has led to a widening rift within the Coalition, and at one stage threatened to bring down the whole NSW government. Mr Barilaro has now taken mental health leave as a result of the impact it has had.
It is this division and instability, and the public manner in which it has played out, that pushed Ms Williams to make a stand.
She said she has, and always will, campaign as a united coalition member, and believes a united two-party alliance is far greater than the political motivations underpinning either one.
“What this has done is obviously had an impact on our [Nationals] relationship with our Liberal colleagues, and when you’re in government, in a partnership, putting good government into jeopardy is not going to help my electorate,” she said.
Regarding the impact her decision could have on her re-election chances, Ms Williams said this:
“Let me be just be clear, every election that I have stood, I have stood as the member of a Liberal-National Coalition.”
“My billboards, from way back, had a picture of Barry O’Farrell on them saying ‘I need Leslie as a part of my team in government.’
“We don’t stand a Liberal candidate here, why? Because we have a Nationals candidate that’s going to represent the Coalition and this [2023 elections] will be the same.
“It’s just that I will now be a Liberal member, but I’ll be representing the same Coalition – the same partnership.
“That’s what I did last week, that’s what I’ll do this week.”
Ms Williams wished Mr Barilaro and the Nationals well – but said her priority is to just get on with delivering for the electorate.
“I absolutely wish him well and believe he is doing the right thing that he looks after his own mental health and well being,” she said.
“It is really important for all of us to do. I support him in that and I wish him and his family well in the weeks ahead.
“But I made some election commitments for Port Macquarie, and I’ll continue to work to deliver those.
“A new police station, upgrades to Hastings Secondary College, the duplication of Ocean Dr, although that really is something that the lead agency – Council – will take forward. They will need to make some decisions that are associated with that.
“There are a whole heap of others, including the upgrade of Lake Cathie Public School.
“I’ll just keep on doing what I was doing before.”