John Barilaro and supporters urging Eden-Monaro voters to preference Labor before Libs
NSW Nats leader John Barilaro and his supporters are asking voters to preference Labor before Liberal in Eden-Monaro
NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro and his supporters are deliberately undermining the Morrison government’s bid to reclaim the prized marginal seat of Eden-Monaro by asking voters to preference Labor before Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs.
There have been concerted efforts from within the Nationals camp to ensure Labor’s candidate, Kristy McBain, receives the party’s crucial preferences over Dr Kotvojs in a move that could cost the Liberals a historic once-in-a-century victory.
The Australian has seen a voter’s ballot paper that numbers Nationals candidate Trevor Hicks “1” and Ms McBain “2”, despite the junior Coalition partner’s official how-to-vote card asking people to preference the Liberals before Labor.
One Nationals supporter said they would ask as many people as they and Mr Barilaro could to preference Ms McBain second, behind Mr Hicks.
The provocative tactic comes after Mr Barilaro left open the possibility of contesting Eden-Monaro at the next federal election, as revealed by The Australian.
Some senior Nationals figures want Labor to win Saturday’s contest so there is no Liberal sitting member at the next election. Under the Coalition agreement, Mr Barilaro would not be able to run against a Liberal MP.
The winner of Saturday’s by-election is set to be decided by preferences, meaning attempts by the Nationals to secure a Labor victory could cost the Morrison government the seat.
The last time a government won a seat off the opposition at a by-election was in 1920.
Mr Barilaro did not deny he was using the strategy when confronted with The Australian’s story on Thursday, but said he would vote for Mr Hicks “and then the Coalition second, so we’re all good”.
“The first thing that I’m telling people is to ‘vote 1’ Trevor Hicks for the Nationals … so we can still pull a decent vote in this by-election. I think it’s a very unique by-election,” he told 2GB radio.
“We have a printed how-to-vote card that has 1 Trevor Hicks, 2 Fiona Kotvojs the Liberal candidate so outside of that, that’s clearly our intention as a party. There are going to be members on the ground, the Nats and the Libs have always had a bit of argy bargy down there and some members … will say and do as they please. Our official position is, clearly, that we’re preferencing the Liberal Party.”
Speaking shortly after the radio interview at a press conference in Queanbeyan, Mr Barilaro refused to say if he preferenced Labor ahead of the Liberals at the 2019 federal election.
“What I choose to do with my vote is something I choose to do,” Mr Barilaro said.
“The loss in this by-election is that we’ve lost (former Labor MP) Mike Kelly as a local member and a representative for this region. I’m not admitting anything, I’m just saying Mike’s a mate of mine.”
Senior Liberal sources said the party had volunteers on every pre-poll booth in the electorate and had not received a single report of Nationals volunteers telling voters to put Labor second.
NSW Nationals chairman Andrew Fraser said it was “bullshit” to suggest Nationals were trying to help Labor get over the line.
“We are a strong Coalition party. Our how-to-vote says to preference the Liberals next (after Mr Hicks) and that’s what our people are telling people to do on the booths.
“Anything else is an absolute lie and fabrication,” he said.
“We are working with the Liberal Party to ensure for the first time in a long time we actually win a seat from government off the Labor Party. I would prefer a National (candidate) won but I don’t think we will. I think the Liberals are in front of us.”
Nearly 13 per cent of Nationals voters, or 886 people, preferenced former Mr Kelly ahead of Dr Kotvojs at last year’s federal election.
There have already been 16,595 applications for postal vote ballots, more than double the 7428 total postal votes in Eden-Monaro at the 2019 federal poll.
Another 28,235 votes have been cast at pre-poll compared with 25,663 pre-poll votes at the same time last year.
With 115,000 people registered to vote in the by-election, it is possible half of the electorate will have voted by polling day.
The surge in postal votes was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and voters being more reluctant to go to a polling place.
Ms McBain, the former Bega Valley mayor, is set to spend the final days of the campaign on the coast attacking the government over its bushfire recovery and clean-up.
Labor hopes to capitalise on Ms McBain’s name recognition and popularity in the region, telling voters to “send a message to the government” about the bushfires and continuing the JobKeeper program by voting for her.
Dr Kotvojs will be away from the coast in inland towns focusing on the government’s efforts to rebuild the economy and communities of Eden-Monaro.
She has been urging voters to support her so they have a voice in government to get things done for the region.
Labor holds Eden-Monaro by 0.85 per cent, with pressure on Anthony Albanese to retain the electorate.
The Opposition Leader on Wednesday reminded colleagues he was in “positive territory” in the polls, insisting he had the support of his party even if Labor lost.
Senior Labor figures say a by-election loss will not reflect poorly on Mr Albanese and are playing down the party’s chances of winning. They say the Liberal Party has more money to spend on its campaign, which is taking place as voters respond well to the Morrison government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
“The fact is that my approval ratings are in positive territory and this is about the people of Eden-Monaro,” Mr Albanese told Sky News on Wednesday.
“It’s a tough circumstance. We have the first pandemic in 100 years and due to that it’s unknown territory.”
Mr Albanese has a net satisfaction rating of 2 per cent in the latest Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian, and has achieved an approval rating of as high as 9 per cent.
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten received one positive rating of 2 per cent at the beginning of his tenure before dropping into negative territory until he stood aside following the election in May last year.
Scott Morrison’s net satisfaction rating is at an all-time high of 41 per cent.
Mr Albanese has campaigned with Ms McBain in the electorate 12 times since the start of May, while the Prime Minister has made five appearances with Dr Kotvojs in the past 5½ weeks.
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