Bitter bush politicking set to vaporise

Mr Joyce is facing a significant challenge to retain his New England seat with former independent MP Tony Windsor backed by unions and other left-leaning groups like GetUp! focussed on environmental issues or trade protectionism.

The Australasian Meat Industry Employee’s Union has staged several protests outside Mr Joyce’s Tamworth office attacking his support of live animal exports; despite local abattoirs backing the trade and rejecting assertions about its impact on jobs.

Ahead of polling day tomorrow, the Agriculture and Water Resources Minister was asked on ABC television this morning how he believed that escalating politicking would be perceived by local voters and the increasingly nasty, bitter battle for New England

Mr Joyce said some sections of the campaign he’d found to have become “unsavoury” and were also “new and unwarranted”.

“Of course, it seems to be building on itself, it's exacerbated, like fuel to the flame by a large influx of people from outside the electorate who come in here to start stirring things up and, unfortunately, in some instances, they are doing precisely that which is a terrible shame,” he said.

“It is not what Australia is about; certainly not what New England is about.

“Some of the statements made, I don't know what you'd say about them.”

Mr Joyce said it would be a “tough run” for his party to retain all 21 seats Lower and Upper House seats at this weekend’s election given the ferocity of the negative campaigning.

“It is going to be a tough run and there are certainly areas where we're up against a strong, basically union-backed campaign whether it is the MUA or CFMEU (they) are putting huge resources into areas such as New England, Cowper and Page,” he said of contests against sitting Nationals; Luke Hartsuyker and Kevin Hogan

“We have to try and do our very best.

“We don't have the same monetary resources that these other organisations do.”

Mr Joyce said the opposing groups were “way, way, way outspending” the Nationals in their campaign advertising, polling and tactics they’re using.

“We just have to rely on the goodwill of the people to make a choice which we believe should be in our favour and we will continue to do our jobs,” he said.

“The day after the election, all these union groups, all these pressure groups will leave the electorate and we want to make sure our people are part of a government and part of a national purpose, a purpose for Australia to be in a stronger place which obviously are uncertain times - we are not making that up.

“You can turn on the TV any night (and) have a look at it.

“We have to manage this situation closely and keep those jobs in a strong position for our nation.”

But Mr Joyce was also quizzed about his New England campaign team releasing a satirical commercial this week featuring two women sharing coffee, which offended Mr Windsor’s wife.

One of the two receives a text message from a fictitious Tony Windsor character saying, “Hey New England how about another chance?”

Their discussion turns metaphorically into Mr Windsor’s real life decision to side with the Gillard Labor government following balance of power negotiations after the 2010 federal election.

The question and answer exchange between the two ladies ends with the woman being courted for the independent’s vote saying, “things have changed and I’ve moved on” and then replying with a text message saying, “Not this time Tony”.

Mr Windsor issued an abrupt statement saying the advert inferred his infidelity, which had deeply upset his wife Lyn, and demanded it be immediately withdrawn.

However, he also took a swipe at Mr Joyce and the Nationals’ campaign committee member James Treloar saying “These two should be the last to raise this issue – it’s not politics”.

Asked about the advert’s meanings today, Mr Joyce said he did not think for one second anybody was suggesting it actually said Mr Windsor was cheating on his wife.

He said his electoral challenger may have said he was offended but his response to the issue, “made something which is beyond an inference, it was a straight-out statement”.

“It was categorically wrong and defamatory but he made it,” Mr Joyce said.

On ABC radio earlier this week, Mr Joyce said the commercial’s theatrics were obvious but further interpretations – in regards to Mr Windsor’s claim against him and Mr Trelor –ratcheted the issue up into something “completely and utterly unsavoury”.

“Why say that Mr Windsor?” the Nationals leader said.

Mr Windsor resigned ahead of the 2013 election citing health difficulties and plans to pursue other interests after more than two decades in State and federal politics to be replaced by the now Nationals leader.

Mr Joyce has repeatedly said he was “confident but not cocky” of winning New England which would be an extremely tight contest.

The AMIEU says local candidates from the Greens and Labor also attended the protest rally outside Mr Joyce’s Tamworth office this week “in a gesture of solidarity for the local workers’ cause”.

NSW Greens Senator and animal welfare spokesperson Lee Rhiannon and the party’s New England candidate attended this week’s anti-live exports rally in Tamworth.

“The Greens stand with Animal Australia and other animal welfare groups and with the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union in condemning the live export trade,” Senator Rhiannon said.

The Union held a protest in Lismore last week where Mr Hogan is facing an election challenge from Labor’s Janelle Saffin who wants to reclaim the seat she lost at 2013 federal election.

Ms Saffin was one of the leading critics of the live export trade in leading the backbench revolt which sparked the sudden and controversial closure of the Indonesian cattle market in 2011 by the former Labor government that’s now subject to a $1 billion class action claim against the Commonwealth.

The AMIEU has also protested against Townsville based Queensland LNP MP Ewen Jones in relation to Mr Joyce’s support for live exports.

In other controversies around the battle for New England, Mr Windsor objected strongly to reporting in the Australian Newspaper this week regarding claims of bullying during his time at boarding school.

“I will not be responding to the gutter journalism in the Australian Newspaper story today,” he said.

“It should be seen in the context of a very close election campaign for the seat of New England.

“I will not dignify the article by commenting any further - “I have referred the article to my legal advisers.”

Mr Windsor was also forced to apologise last week for comments he made about the state of mind of one-time friend and Vietnam veteran Kerry Schofield who was critical of his decision to side with Labor, after the 2010 election to form government.

Senior Coalition MP Peter Dutton said “I think Mr Windsor’s really shot himself in the foot here and I think overall it demonstrates that we just don’t want another minority-led government of Labor-Greens-Independents”.

“It would be a disaster for our country as it was during Julia Gillard’s period,” he said.

Mr Windsor was also chastised comments he made on Twitter this week about Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff Peta Credlin in saying she “always made a nice (c)up of tea during hung parliament”.

Ms Credlin accused Mr Windsor of “rat cunning” and “rank hypocrisy” but did not accusing him of sexism when speaking about the issue in a radio interview.

“I was never too important I couldn’t make a cup of tea in the office - but this is just a put-down from a man who has got rat cunning and he doesn’t deserve another go in Parliament,” she said.

“He should be hung, drawn and quartered for what he did in that hung Parliament and what he delivered Australia.

“He takes no responsibility for it and he’s got the hide to put up his hand and say, ‘Give me another go’ (but) it’s just rank hypocrisy.”

But Mr Windsor also hit out at Mr Joyce this week for pre-poll workers being flown into Tamworth from WA by mining magnate Gina Rinehart to hand out how-to-vote cards for the National Party, in backing Mr Joyce’s campaign.

Mr Windsor said it was “further evidence that the Deputy Prime Minister is in the pocket of the mining sector to detriment of those he pays lip service to, to represent”.

“It shows again that the Deputy Prime Minister and the National Party will do whatever it takes, say whatever it takes but deliver only cheap talk when it comes to protecting our prime agricultural land and the much needed water resources,” he said.

“The farm sector needs more than this.”

Mr Joyce posted a video on his Facebook page this week showing a local advertising billboard being repaired by workers in New England after it was defaced with the words “the ugly truth” and “member for Rinehart”.

The Nationals leader was also harassed by anti-mining protestors linked to Mr Windsor’s campaign at a bar in Uralla which caused a scene where he told them to “piss-off”.

Nationals NSW state director Nathan Quigley said 800 campaign posters in the New England electorate worth $7000 had also been ripped down and pre-polling volunteers from both sides have reportedly been treated aggressively by rival supporters.

Mr Joyce said this week Mr Windsor’s team had five negative attack ads running on air in New England compared to one on his side - but an offer to withdraw all negative material was declined.

On Twitter, Mr Windsor also made an interesting revelation about what may well unfold at the weekend’s poll.

“Old England voted to go Independent - New England should go Independent,” Mr Windsor said after the referendum on the UK leaving the EU controversially succeeded, 52 per cent to 48pc.

However, a quick-witted reply said, “Might want to rethink Tone - I reckon Old England made a mistake” to which Mr Windsor said, “You may be right”.

Another Twitter critic said to Mr Windsor, “Although that sounds clever it's actually ill-informed and speaks to a divisiveness that none should support”.

Today Mr Joyce said overall, he believed the Coalition had laid down a clear message about strong economic management, job security and national building infrastructure like the inland rail and dams.

“We know that the Labor Party and the Greens and the Independents are fighting this tooth and nail; tooth and claw,” he said.

“GetUp! are beyond compare, they are ringing people up in the middle of the night, they are basically telling people straight out lies.

“This is a very poor form of polling.

“If we descend into the pit of basically ringing people up and lying to them, where does this ever end?

“What happens if we all decide to do that?

“It'd be hopeless.”

GetUp says 3000 volunteers members will be handing out how to vote cards on polling day and will focus their energy on “members of the hard-right faction of the Liberal-National Party, who are holding Australia back on important issues like global warming and funding schools and hospitals”.

Mr Windsor has been contacted for comment by Fairfax Agricultural Media.