From Fairfax:
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce faces the prospect of losing his New England seat after just one term as the first opinion polling in the sprawling country electorate shows voters swinging behind the former local member, independent Tony Windsor.
And it could be the issue of coal mining in prime farm land, which is opposed by both men, that is fuelling the backlash.
Former independent MP Tony Windsor will try to wrest his old seat of New England from Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce. Vision ABC News 24.
Exclusive ReachTEL polling of elector sentiment obtained by Fairfax Media – the first such voter-feedback in the crucial electorate – shows primary support for Mr Joyce stands at an apparently healthy 43.1 per cent, compared to Mr Windsor, who trails on 38.
But with the likelihood of strong preference flows from anti-Coalition Labor voters, who constitute 7.1 per cent, and equally hostile Greens voters who account for another 3.4 per cent, there is a reasonable chance Mr Windsor would finish ahead, were a contest held now.
Saying one thing and doing another is a great Australian political tradition but does not appear to be serving Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce very well. His contradictory positions today are deep:
- claiming to prefer agriculture to coal mining while supporting the opposite;
- claiming to prefer low net foreign debt while supporting the opposite in an endorsement of negative gearing, and
- claiming to prefer Australian-owned land yet supporting the opposite in an endorsement of negative gearing which drives the very current account deficit that forces local asset sales to foreigners.
Good riddance!
