Eden-Monaro byelection: John Barilaro refuses to say if he will preference Liberal candidate Fiona Kotovjs
John Barilaro has refused to say he’ll preference Liberal Fiona Kotovjs in Eden-Monaro after criticism from Barnaby Joyce.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has refused to say he’ll personally preference Liberal candidate Fiona Kotovjs at Saturday’s Eden-Monaro by-election, as he praised Labor’s Kristy McBain as a “very good candidate”.
The Australian revealed on Thursday that Mr Barilaro and his supporters were deliberately undermining the Morrison government’s bid to reclaim the prized marginal seat - held by Labor on 0.85 per cent - by asking voters to preference Labor before Dr Kotvojs.
Mr Barilaro denied he was attempting to sabotage the Liberals’ campaign on Friday, noting the Nationals how-to-vote card has the Liberal Party preferenced second behind his candidate Trevor Hicks.
Asked if he would follow his own party’s how-to-vote card, Mr Barilaro said he would make a personal decision.
“What happens in the privacy of the ballot box is for all Australians to enjoy. As I said, I back people before parties,” he told Sky News.
“People back good people, people who prosecute the case, have a strong narrative about the region.
“That’s probably why Kristy McBain is doing very well ... Kristy is a very good candidate, very well liked down the south coast of this electorate.
“Kristy McBain is someone I’ve also built a friendship with when she was mayor of Bega.”
Libs ‘not innocent’ in the quest for Eden-Monaro
Barnaby Joyce accused some Liberal colleagues of wanting the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party to outpoll the Nationals in Saturday’s crucial Eden-Monaro by-election, as the junior Coalition partner fears it will be blamed if Scott Morrison loses.
Mr Barilaro also inflamed tensions after refusing to say whether he preferenced Labor before the Liberals in Eden-Monaro at last year’s federal poll.
The Australian understands he told state colleagues he voted for former Labor MP Mike Kelly in 2019 before Dr Kotvojs, who is contesting her second election on Saturday.
Mr Joyce, a NSW Nationals MP and former leader of the party, seized on the report to claim some Liberals were also not acting in the spirit of Coalition unity. “Some Libs are hoping that the Shooters and Fishers outpoll the National Party, which brings about the same outcome as the National Party preferencing Labor second. The animosity cuts both ways and they’re both as equally illogical,” he said.
“You can’t possibly vote for a party (Labor) which in the last fortnight has an alleged Chinese operative as a member of parliament and has been accused of branch-stacking and chaos in the Victorian parliament.”
ASIO believes Chinese Communist Party agents have tried to infiltrate the NSW parliament through the office of state Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane, whose home and office were raided last week.
The Shooters party, which scored top spot on the ballot paper in a crowded field of 14 candidates, is preferencing Labor and the Nationals are preferencing the Liberals.
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said she witnessed Nationals supporters at a Queanbeyan pre-poll booth on Wednesday advising voters to preference Labor after their candidate, Trevor Hicks.
Liberal MPs dismissed Mr Joyce’s claim, while the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack insisted the parties were working together to attempt a once-in-a-century victory by taking the seat off the opposition.
“John Barilaro has today stated publicly he will be voting 1 for the Nationals’ candidate Trevor Hicks, followed by the Liberals’ Fiona Kotvojs second,” Mr McCormack said on Thursday. “The Nationals’ how-to-vote card is very clear and I encourage everyone in the Eden-Monaro electorate to vote that way on Saturday.”
In what is shaping up to be an extremely close contest decided by preferences, Anthony Albanese stressed he had lost a popular member in Mr Kelly, saying his departure had reduced the party’s primary vote by 3 per cent.
The Opposition Leader said he had a “mountain to climb” with the by-election being held in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen Mr Morrison’s approval ratings soar to record highs.
Mr Barilaro, who under the Coalition agreement can contest Eden-Monaro at the next federal election only if Labor wins on Saturday, did not deny he was urging voters to put Ms McBain ahead of Dr Kotvojs.
He said he would vote for Mr Hicks first “and then the Coalition second” but would not confirm he voted that way in 2019.
“What I choose to do with my vote is something I choose to do,” Mr Barilaro said on Thursday.
“The loss in this by-election is that we’ve lost 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.”
According to The Australia Institute polling to be released on Friday, support for Labor in Eden-Monaro has fallen slightly in the past fortnight but the party is still ahead on a two-party preferred basis of 52-48 per cent.
The survey of 643 voters found Dr Kotvojs’ primary vote had increased from 29.9 per cent to 37.5 per cent while Ms McBain’s had lifted from 36.5 per cent to 38.1 per cent.
Mr Morrison said Labor “need to sort themselves out” following the branch stacking scandal in the Victorian ALP.
“A vote for Labor is a vote for uncertainty. It‘s a vote for chaos, it’s a vote for the disunity that we’re seeing right across the Labor ranks,” he said.
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