Nationals leader says candidate for Port Macquarie will be announced 'very soon'

It's the question of who will be the National Party candidate for the seat of Port Macquarie at the state election on March 25, 2023.

The Port News understands several people have been approached and have declined to run.

The name of another potential high-profile candidate has been shared with the Port News by multiple people and organisations but that person has twice declined to confirm either way and so cannot be named.

Sitting MP Leslie Williams ran as a National Party candidate in March 2019 but changed to the Liberal Party in September 2020.

Her decision was in response to then Nationals leader John Barilaro's koala policy. Within months, Mr Barilaro confirmed the party would run against its former representative.

This was echoed at the Nationals' state conference in Port Maquarie on June 17 this year, where party chairman Andrew Fraser told delegates he had felt "personally betrayed" by Mrs Williams.

At that same conference, Leader and Deputy Premier Paul Toole told the Port News that the party would have its "candidates on the ground ready to go by September of this year."

That hasn't happened.

When launching the Nationals' Regional Communities and Action Plan in Dubbo on Tuesday, November 20, ACM reporter Dominic Unwin asked party leader Paul Toole for an update. Following are his responses:

Q: Will the Nationals be running against Leslie Williams?

We've always said we will be running a National Party member in the 2023 election and it will be up to the people of Port Macquarie to choose who they want to see representing them for the next four years.

Q: Has the candidate been selected?

It will be very soon. People will be able to see very shortly who our candidate is for the seat.

Q: Does that interfere with any coalition deal?

No. In 2019 we went to an election and the people voted for a National Party candidate. We've continued to invest in that region, continued to provide investment in roads and bridges and community infrastructure in that local area and the Nats have always said that we'll run in the next election. Ultimately it will be up to the people of Port Macquarie to choose who they would like to see as a representative.

The electorate of Port Macquarie has been held by the Nationals for all but 11 years since it was first formed in 1988.

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