Nationals MP Leslie Williams defects over ‘reckless’ John Barilaro

MP Leslie Williams has dramatically quit the NSW Nationals over the ‘reckless and unreasonable’ actions of Deputy Premier John Barilaro and has applied to join the Liberal Party.

Leslie Williams says her decision to apply for the Liberal Party’s NSW division was spurred by John Barilaro

MP Leslie Williams has dramatically quit the NSW Nationals over the “reckless and unreasonable” actions of Deputy Premier John Barilaro and has applied to join the Liberal Party.

The Member for Port Macquarie ’s defection comes at a time of strained tensions within the coalition following threats from Mr Barilaro, the NSW Nationals leader, to sit on the crossbench over koala policy and his subsequent decision to take four weeks of mental health leave.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro. Picture: Getty Images

Ms Williams, who has been serving as the parliamentary secretary for regional and rural health, said her decision to apply for the Liberal Party’s NSW division was spurred by Mr Barilaro.

“Last week, I advised the Deputy Premier I would not be supporting his actions or those of my Nationals colleagues in effectively putting the entire party on the crossbench,” Ms Williams said in a statement on Sunday.

“The NSW Liberals and Nationals have delivered unprecedented investment across the Port Macquarie electorate and to put this in jeopardy and hold the Premier and the government to ransom during this COVID-19 pandemic was unnecessary, unhelpful and frankly politically reckless and unreasonable.”

Ms Williams said her community deserved to be represented by “members and leaders that are focused on their needs and their aspirations and rightly expect to have policy overshadowing politics”.

She has officially resigned from the NSW Nationals and on Sunday made the application to join the Liberal Party.