Barnaby Joyce and Tony Windsor showdown a familiar country twang

The people of New England, and Tony Windsor, are ready for a by-election like no other.

Tamworth country music singer Aleyce Simmonds, 30, with guitarist Michael Cole, 26, at the Tamworth railway station yesterday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

They reserve their passion for country music in Tamworth, not politics, but if the High Court finds against Barnaby Joyce today the players are ready for a by-election that promises to be like no other.

Clearly, Malcolm Turnbull needs this like a hole in the head when his government is clinging to power with a margin of just one seat. Ditto for the beleaguered Deputy Prime Minister and ­Nationals leader, whose political future hangs in the balance.

Mr Joyce’s apparently firm hold on New England — anchored in the brick-and-tile suburbs of Tamworth, the electorate reaches north to the university town of Armidale and the NSW-Queensland border — belies the bruising challenge he faced at last year’s double-dissolution election from his nemesis Tony Windsor, who is eyeing another comeback bid for federal parliament.

But spare a thought for the voters. If a by-election is required, it will be the third time in four years they have had to turn out in New England to elect a federal MP. “It’s a bit ridiculous,” said ­rising country music star Aleyce Simmonds, 30. “I think the government should stop wasting time and resources on pointless things like this.”

Her lead guitarist, Michael Cole, 26, sighed and said: “But rules are rules, I guess.”

A potential Melbourne Cup field of candidates is assembling in anticipation of the High Court’s decision on the citizenship case, which will decide whether Mr Joyce was eligible to be elected to parliament last year along with the six senators in the crosshairs — Nationals ministers Fiona Nash and Matt Canavan, Greens Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlum, independent Nick Xenophon and Malcolm Roberts of One Nation.

 

The ALP, the Hanson party, Greens, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and former West Australian state MP Ian Britza are set to run against Mr Joyce, 50, if the by-election is ordered. While Mr Windsor joined the High Court case against Mr Joyce, disputing submissions by the ­Attorney-General that Mr Joyce should be allowed to remain in parliament because he had no way of knowing he was a dual New Zealand citizen, the former independent MP is yet to say what he will do if the seat is thrown open.

Tamworth Mayor Col Murray said the choice was “black and white” between the two larger-than-life personalities who had polarised local voters. “Either you are for Tony or you are for Barnaby,” he said yesterday.

Tony Windsor, post 2016 election defeat at The Longyard Hotel Tamworth. Picture: Marlon Dalton

For that, read a mutual loathing that transcends the usual contretemps of political life. Mr Windsor, 67, is a former state MP who held New England for 12 years as a federal independent until Mr Joyce switched from the Senate in 2013. Having propped up Julia Gillard’s minority Labor government, he did not contest that election, citing ill health.

But he was back last year for a contest that soon turned toxic, ­descending into spite and vilification on both sides. At one point, an infuriated Mr Windsor claimed that a campaign ad for Mr Joyce implied that he had been unfaithful to his wife. Mr Joyce said in ­response that he had lost all ­respect for Mr Windsor.

The needle has been applied this time around in tweets by Mr Windsor fanning innuendo about Mr Joyce’s personal life and in falsified polling exposed by The Australian on Monday that suggested any rematch between Mr Joyce and his predecessor would go down to the wire.

In fact, recent Nationals polling seen by this newspaper shows that Mr Joyce would increase his commanding margin of victory at last year’s election with a projected 58 per cent of the vote, against barely 16 per cent for Mr Windsor. A Reachtel poll in September for the Australia Institute split the two-party-preferred vote 57-43 per cent in favour of Mr Joyce.

Mr Murray, who has six terms under his belt as Tamworth Mayor, said there was wide sympathy for Mr Joyce’s citizenship predicament: “People seem to be supportive of Barnaby and there is a bit of resentment at the process.”

If Mr Windsor ran, it would risk tarnishing his reputation for delivering for the electorate during his long stint as MP.

Former independent candidate Rob Taber, who pulled a vote of 14 per cent in 2013 but was crushed in last year’s contest, said he had ­advised Mr Windsor to set his sights on the Senate if he wanted to return to federal parliament. “To be honest, Tony Windsor is on the nose here … he is more popular outside the electorate than in it,” he said.

But Tamworth project officer Dallas Taylor, 50, said he hoped Mr Windsor would suit up again. “I’ve known Tony for a long time … and he’s done a lot for us.”

Simmonds said her latest single, Only on My Terms, had hit the No 1 spot on Australian Country Radio and there was a message in it for Mr Joyce as he faced his ­moment of truth today.

“This is a good song for Bar­naby. It’s a song about doing things on your own terms and not letting people push you around,” she said.