The Sauce: MPs claim NSW Parliament House offices are being ‘bugged’

The Liberal Party has a preference whisperer and its none other than former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was spotted in the CBD with a Bradfield independent.

Two weeks after making up after the bitterly contested Port Macquarie by-election, the Nationals are being linked to the sudden appearance of seemingly hundreds of singing crickets near Liberal MP offices.

The deafening racket from the Level 10 courtyard “cricket plague” has led to affected pollies having to shut their doors while on the phone, or even for sanity reasons.

State opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane, whose office is near the garden, said the noise was so loud she had to shut the door.

Asked whether anyone had sighted a cricket to confirm they were not some kind of noisy toy, Sloane offered to investigate.

“I’m in the garden now,” she said. Alas, she was unable to locate one.

“They’re silent at the moment as it’s just been watered.”

The front of the NSW Parliament House.

Fellow Liberal MP Mark Coure said he also had to close his office door, saying: “It’s like a zoo in here.”

Another Liberal source claimed the bugs arrived around the same time as the by-election: “The Nationals fail to win Port Macquarie, and suddenly the garden’s full of deafening crickets.”

One Liberal source said the arrival of the crickets had come about six months after a Nationals MP Geoff Provest had planted a snake skin in the garden for a joke.

When approached, Mr Provest claimed he was also responsible for the crickets — although The Sauce smells something fishy.

“The garden is being rehabilitated into a rainforest with green frogs,” he said.

“Frogs of course eat crickets so I brought some down form Tweed. It was tricky at airport security …”

The Department of Parliamentary Services is understood to be investigating the matter on Monday.

DEAL-MAKER TONY    

Tony Abbott has become the Liberal Party’s preference whisperer. The former PM was spotted near his CBD office on Thursday with Bradfield independent Andy Yin, with Liberal sources telling The Sauce that Abbott had been sent in to try to negotiate a preference deal.

Yin is running against Liberal candidate Gisele Kapertarian, teal independent Nicolette Boele and Louise McCallum for Labor.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott and Andy Yin.

With the departure of longserving MP Paul Fletcher, Yin – a high-profile Chinese Australian who used to be a member of the Liberals – is hoping his local connections will break the seat’s Liberal hold.

Yin made headlines a few years ago after complaining to the Human Rights Commission about the Liberals allegedly rejecting his nomination to run for the state seat of Strathfield due to racial grounds – specifically, over fears he was a Chinese spy.   The Commission terminated Yin’s complaint on the grounds there was little chance of both parties reconciling.

Yin has a point to prove so it will be interesting if he does do a deal with his rivals.

Yin and Abbott have history: he once interviewed Tony on his social media show “Andy One on One”.

A Liberal source also told us that Kapterian’s polling “could be better”, making it sense as to why Yin has been sought out. 

The Sauce tried to confirm the meeting with Yin but neither he nor his adviser would return our calls.

Abbott also did not reply.

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Originally published as The Sauce: MPs claim NSW Parliament House offices are being ‘bugged’