Nationals MP Pat Conaghan tussles with teal independent at Port Macquarie polling booths

A Nationals MP whose wife was harrassed by an opposing candidate’s volunteer has been caught on camera revealing how much the man had rattled him.

A Nationals MP whose wife was harrassed by an opposing candidate’s volunteer has been caught on camera saying “it took every ounce of energy not to punch”.

The tussle occurred at Hastings Public School in Port Macquarie, where Cowper incumbent Pat Conaghan had just arrived to vote around 9am this morning.

Nationals MP Pat Conaghan and his wife Ilana are harassed by a teal independent candidate’s volunteer on the way to voting.

As Conaghan and his wife, Ilona, were heading into the school to cast their votes, the volunteer shoved an independent how to vote card in their faces, repeatedly encouraging them to vote for “integrity” this election.

According to the couple, that particular volunteer had been causing Conaghan grief over the course of the campaign.

The incumbent MP lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) over this morning’s incident, which he described as forceful.

Independent Carolyn Heise – also known as Caz4Cowper – was campaigning at another Mid North Coast polling booth when the incident occurred.

“I won’t comment on something I wasn’t there to see,” she said.

“But he (Conaghan) has been quite hostile towards me throughout the campaign, using some dirty tactics.

“At the community forum, he was rolling his eyes as I was speaking, not to mention the signs around town.”

Heise referred to a campaign being run by the Nationals across the electorate, including teal signs saying that the local nurse was “inexperienced, ineffective, indecisive” and that “voting independent risks Labor”.

After Conaghan submitted the complaint to AEC staff, he voted and left the site to head over to Tacking Point Public School.

There, he handed out how to vote cards and spoke with incoming voters, supported by Ilona and their eldest son Hugh.

Meanwhile, Heise campaigned alongside volunteers at Hastings Secondary College in Port Macquarie this morning.

She’s set to hit the road, appearing at Macksville, Bellingen and finally Coffs Harbour where she will stay until the results are announced.

Both candidates will be celebrating tonight’s results in Coffs, with Conaghan’s election party taking place at Pier Hotel and Heise’s at Jetty Beach House.

Keep up with the statewide election coverage via our live blog.