The battle for preferences in the Cootamundra by-election is volcanic, and it erupted in the NSW Parliament last Thursday.
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Fairfax polling suggests the Cootamundra by-election is too close to call and that whomever becomes the next Member for Cootamundra will only find a seat in parliament on preferences.
The Shooters Fishers and Farmers, Labor and the National Party all are aware of this.
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Robert Borsak hit back at the "desperate" National Party saying they wasted Parliament’s time last Thursday calling on his party to not support potential Australia First candidate Dr Jim Saleam.
“The National Party is clearly desperate when they resort to these sorts of scare tactics based on lies and fear,” Mr Borsak said.
“If any of their Members of Parliament, staff or supporters had read the Young Witness online they would have seen my comments ruling out supporting Dr Jim Saleam.
“The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party will not support Dr Saleam in the Cootamundra by-election, and we will not preference him if he runs."
Mr Borsak said Dr Saleam might not be eligible to run in the Cootamundra by-election as Australia First is not a registered political party in New South Wales. However, the Witness believes Dr Saleam will seek to circumvent that hurdle by running as an independent.
"Australia First is not a registered political party in New South Wales, and if unconfirmed rumours about Dr Saleam’s prior convictions aired in Parliament are correct, that would likely rule him ineligible to be a candidate," he said.
“We have not settled on our final how-to-vote cards yet, but I have directed our party to not even include a preference for Dr Saleam in any material we produce.
“New South Wales elections are optional preferential. People can preference as many or as few candidates as they prefer to."
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party by-election candidate Matthew Stadtmiller said that people in the electorate aren’t concerned about these distractions.
“I’ve been travelling throughout the electorate during this campaign, and I can tell you that nobody is asking me about preferencing," he said.
“What matters to people are the rising costs of living, the State Government’s inaction on electricity supply causing power bills to rise, and whether their local Police Station will be staffed 24/7 after LACs are re-engineered. "
But Nationals candidate Steph Cooke said it was a fact Mr Stadtmiller retweeted an ad calling for the Nationals to be put last on ballot papers.
"It was the Shooters Party that promoted that tweet over their network," she said.
"They are very brave when they stand up, but they go running when they are caught in a bad situation."
National Party campaign director Ross Cadell said the National Party would ask people to put a one beside the candidate of their choosing.
"We shouldn't get the last candidate left standing, the people of Cootamundra should get the candidate that most people want," he said.
"If they are serious the Shooters should guarantee to do the same."