Barilaro once threatened to sue a fellow Nat. Now her Liberal candidacy has sparked Coalition warfare

A feud inside the NSW Coalition once became so bitter that the deputy premier threatened to sue a party colleague, it can be revealed. Now the same schism has led to open electoral warfare between Liberals and Nationals, prompting the parties to run candidates against one another in a pair of regional seats while trading barbs in the media. 

Crikey can reveal that a grudge between the Coalition partners dating back to 2020 has played a large part in Liberals and Nationals battling it out in Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga in the March 25 state election.

Coalition agreements entered into for each election are meant to stave off so-called three-cornered contests because they result in Coalition partners splitting the conservative vote and aiding rival candidates. 

However, Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams’ 2020 decision to defect from the Nationals to the Liberals has tested the parties’ commitment to the current agreement because she plans to defend her seat on election day, meaning the Liberals will run in what’s meant to be Nationals territory. 

The Nationals’ decision to run a candidate against her underscores the deep divisions between the nominal allies in the NSW Coalition. So, too, does the revelation former deputy premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro once threatened to sue Williams over a media release she issued.

Crikey has obtained an apology letter from Williams dated June 30 2020 and titled “Apology to the Deputy Premier of NSW”. The letter was never distributed.

“On May 10 2020, I distributed a media release concerning John Barilaro, the deputy premier of NSW,” Williams wrote on National Party letterhead. “In the media release I may have given the impression that Mr Barilaro’s actions lacked honesty. That was not my intention and I apologise unreservedly to Mr Barilaro and his family.

“I also apologise for the distraction my statement may have caused to the work of the government and that of Mr Barilaro and my colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

The same day as Williams’ media release was issued, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Williams had written to a top party official to complain about Barilaro, whose profanity-laden argument with Liberal colleague Andrew Constance about who was supposed to run in a federal byelection in Eden-Monaro had recently spilled out into the open. 

A few months later, another fight between Liberals and Nationals — this time about an environmental policy meant to protect koala habitats — became the final straw for Williams, who defected to the Liberals. 

Crikey understands internal polling shows Williams neck and neck with the Nationals candidate, Peta Pinson, with the Labor candidate Keith McMullen polling in third place. 

Pinson recently made headlines for telling a local election event she wasn’t “convinced” climate change was caused by human behaviour, pointing to a “widely debunked blog post” as evidence, according to the SMH.

The Nationals are not only running their own candidate to rival Williams in the mid-North Coast seat, but are also taking on the Liberals with a challenger in Wagga Wagga. It’s understood the Wagga Wagga challenge is seen by some inside the Coalition as the Nationals’ revenge on the Liberals — and Williams — for costing them their representative in Port Macquarie. 

“[Williams’ defection] is pretty much the cause of all these problems,” a Nationals source told Crikey.

A senior Liberal source dismissed the notion Williams’ run would violate the spirit of the Coalition agreement: “The sitting MP is a Liberal.”

Another Liberal downplayed the divisions, saying Williams was a popular local member and that there was no animosity between the parties. 

The state electorate of Wagga Wagga was held by the Liberals from 1957 until 2018, when local member Daryl Maguire quit because of a corruption investigation into his conduct in office. In 2019, the only Coalition candidate to run in the seat was a National. 

For Wagga Wagga, the Liberals have put up the same candidate as they did in the 2018 byelection, Julia Ham. It’s understood internal Coalition polling shows Ham, Nationals candidate Andrianna Benjamin and Labor candidate Keryn Foley trailing independent incumbent Joe McGirr.

The ill feelings between Nationals and Liberals have emerged in the seat as well. Wagga Wagga-based Nationals upper house member Wes Fang was quoted in a recent Daily Advertiser article blasting Ham for misspeaking about an election promise and urging her to resign. 

According to the article, Ham told a candidates’ forum the Liberal Party had committed to a long-awaited project to duplicate a bridge, when she in fact had got no such commitment. 

“After misleading the electorate at the candidate forum, Julia Ham and the Liberal Party need to withdraw from this election before they do any more damage to the coalition,” Fang was quoted as saying. 

Ham told Crikey she was referring to a feasibility study, not the delivery of the bridge.

“I have been a strong advocate for Wagga’s critical infrastructure, including our roads, and if elected I will continue my advocacy for a duplication of the Gobbagombalin Bridge — starting with a prompt delivery of the feasibility study,” she said.

Fang and Williams declined to comment when contacted by Crikey. Barilaro did not respond to requests for comment.