Vote call for bush set to stir division

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro wants to introduce new electoral laws to create extra bush seats in the state parliament.

NSW Nationals Leader and Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro. Picture: Kym Smith

Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro is set to lay down the gauntlet to Gladys Berejiklian in a speech at the state Nationals conference today, warning the party will demand the Liberals do more to look after the bush’s interests on environmental ­issues.

“I believe the time has come for us to be more forthright in publicly stating our views if they differ from our coalition partner,” Mr Barilaro will say.

“We must be respected. We must not be taken for granted and our Coalition partners will need to work harder for our support.”

Mr Barilaro will also call for a lifting of the quota that sees 30 per cent of the proceeds of asset sales distributed in the bush, and he wants to introduce new electoral laws to create extra seats in the state parliament to make sure the bush is properly represented.

Mr Barilaro and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack will speak at the conference in Inverell, in northern NSW, in the wake of election victories, with Mr McCormack to focus on water policy as he seeks to assuage the sorts of concerns that saw the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party take the state seats of Barwon and Murray off the Nationals in March.

In comments likely to concern his Liberal partners, Mr Barilaro will say in his speech that he is concerned that with a redistribution set to occur in NSW, the bush could lose ­another seat to the city.

“I want to focus on the protection of our voice in parliament, particularly given the upcoming redistribution here in NSW,” Mr Barilaro will say.

“In recent years, NSW and in particular Sydney has gone through a period of unprecedented population growth.

“Given that parliamentary seats are based on average populations of around 52,000 voters, we can expect more seats in the metropolitan area while regional seat numbers remain the same,” Mr Barilaro will say.

“But let’s compare the seat of Barwon to that of the North Shore. Barwon has 69 schools, 28 hospitals, 16 SES stations and over 4000km of state roads.

“By comparison, the electorate of North Shore has five public schools, one SES station, one public hospital and a few hundred kilometres of roads.

“The idea that population numbers somehow constitute a fair and equitable area for representation just doesn’t stack up.”

Mr Barilaro said he had ­spoken to the party’s head office about a proposal to ensure country communities were better represented.