Vote whisperer Glenn Druery in war of words

Arguably the most unlikely triumph of Glenn Druery’s career of preference harvesting has been overshadowed by a war of words between him and the WAarms of One Nation and the Australian Christians.

Glenn Druery. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

Arguably the most unlikely triumph of Glenn Druery’s career of preference harvesting has been overshadowed by a war of words between him and the West Australian arms of One Nation and the Australian Christians.

Both the Daylight Saving Party and Legalise Cannabis WA look set to claim seats in WA’s upper house thanks to the flow of micro-party preferences engineered by Mr Druery.

The likely election of Daylight Saving Party leader Wilson Tucker in the Mining and Pastoral district looks particularly remarkable, given his party has so far received just 67 direct votes and was ranked 17th of 21 parties on the ticket after the first count.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Druery said he had never seen a candidate win from such a starting point but said the micro-­parties could have won even more seats if two parties had followed his preference recommendations. “If One Nation and the Christians hadn’t lied to me and ratted on deals, I would have won potentially four to five seats instead of two,” he said.

“You must have honour and integrity at this level and One Nation and the Christians were extremely economical with the truth at this election.”

He said the Greens and Legalise Cannabis parties had won seats because of the Australian Christians and One Nation not following through with his instructions, and he would not work them in the future.

“Unlike those who follow the New Testament and turn the other cheek, I shall not. I am more of an Old Testament kind of guy when it comes to these sorts of things,” he said.

One Nation WA party president Rod Caddies disputed Mr Druery’s version of events, saying there had been discussions but no deal. “He threatens to put you last if you don’t give him what he wants,” he said.

“What he does is immoral. He gets many different parties together that don’t align with the same sort of policies, and it’s all about money … I’ve got no time for the bloke.”

Australian Christians state director Maryka Groenewald said Mr Druery’s manner during discussions had prompted the party to not pursue a deal with him.

“Glenn sending an email does not mean we are in an arrangement,” she said. “We are not going to accept abusive behaviour. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and our council decided based on that behaviour and that abuse that it was not going to be something we went through with, particularly after he threatened to put us last.”

The Daylight Saving Party’s Mr Tucker is waiting for the count to progress further before he makes any comment.