Coalition turf war in battle for Hunter Valley
Coalition MPs have launched a turf war in the NSW Hunter Valley, with Liberals urging the Nationals against running candidates in the region.
Morrison government MPs have launched a turf war in the NSW Hunter Valley, with Liberals urging the Nationals against running candidates in the region to give the larger Coalition party the best chance of winning over Labor’s traditional heartland.
Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, who represents the government in the Hunter Valley, said the Nationals should decline to contest the seats of Hunter, Paterson and Shortland, saying the Liberals were a better chance of unseating Labor MPs Joel Fitzgibbon, Pat Conroy and Meryl Swanson.
“It is important we put forward the best candidate rather than have a territorial debate over it,” Senator Hughes said.
“The Liberal Party has been doing a lot of work in that region and has a substantial party structure and network.
“The Liberal Party should run in all of those seats.”
In the last election, a Coalition deal ensured the Nationals ran for Hunter while the Liberals ran for Paterson and Shortland.
With party figures in talks over the Hunter Valley strategy ahead of the next poll, Liberal MP Jason Falinski endorsed Senator Hughes’s call for the junior Coalition party to reverse plans to run candidates in the region.
“We are the best chance of winning,” Mr Falinski said.
“Neither party has ever held Hunter so it is a big ask. We want to focus on Labor, not have the appearance of division.”
Nationals senator Perin Davey, who is based in the Hunter region, hit back at Senator Hughes and Mr Falinski, saying the Liberals “have shown no interest in the seat of Hunter since the 1990s”.
“It is not fair, just as we are starting to chip away at Labor’s margin, for the Liberals to want to fly in over the top of us,” he said.
“The Nationals have always run in Hunter because we believe in the people of Hunter, we fight for their jobs and we support their industries. Win or lose, we will not turn our backs on Hunter.”
Scott Morrison was in the electorate of Hunter last week to talk up the government’s manufacturing program in his third visit in the past six months.
Government figures believe Labor is vulnerable in Paterson, Shortland and Hunter.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan, who visited a coalmine in the Hunter this year, said the Nationals’ “pro-coal” policies were suited to the Hunter Valley.
“I have got a pretty simple answer for Hollie (Hughes): ‘No’,” Senator Canavan said.
“The Nationals party nearly won the seat last time. We are the party sticking up for coalmining jobs right now unashamedly.
“The Liberal Party, at the moment, cannot unashamedly defend coal jobs.”
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said “the National Party has a great capacity to win seats in the Hunter Valley”.
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