HE MIGHT not be the first name into the preselection box but Adam Marshall was the first to put up his hand yesterday to confirm he’s a runner in the race for the byelection in Northern Tablelands.
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The former Gunnedah mayor and now Armidale university student and casual schools media officer is definitely running to win the Nationals place in the poll for the state seat.
He is the first declared candidate for The Nationals’ preselection race. Nominations open today and will close on April 5, with the electorate meeting set down for Armidale on April 20 to decide the final candidate.
The by-election date is yet to be announced and will come from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the NSW Parliament when it is decided.
Analysts expect that date to be sooner rather than later, which might sort out prospective candidates too.
Until Richard Torbay’s abrupt and sensational dumping and departure from public life this week, the state poll might have been expected to be months away, and closer to the federal election date of September 14 which Mr Torbay was set to contest as a Nationals man.
But his sudden death departure from his state parliamentary responsibilities early on Wednesday morning set in motion a whole new series of events and catapulted some party plans into shorter timeframes.
The Nationals late on Wednesday night announced the preselection timetable for both the state electorate and the federal electorate of New England, in the wake of the Torbay walkout.
The preselection for New England opens for nominations today, too, and will close April 2, with the crunch meeting to decide The Nationals’ next New England candidate for the federal election on April 13.
Party chairman Niall Blair said the timetable announcement showed the party was intent on winning both seats and giving the region a genuine voice in the state and federal governments.
Mr Blair said the party was absolutely focused on winning and giving New England a “conservative MP who will listen to them”.
He said he was confident both preselections would attract a strong field of candidates and from that the party expected to get “exceptional” candidates in both seats.
Clare Coulton, a daughter of federal Nationals MP for Parkes Mark Coulton, and Inverell man Simon Gaukroger earlier last month announced they were interested in preselection – although the sudden rush to voting might turn both off, because they had another six months to make up their minds and get some experience behind them.
So far, Barnaby Joyce is the only name being bandied around for New England preselection – and although he’s signalled an interest, he has done that before and in other seats, and there is speculation he might not want to test his mettle in a stoush with Tony Windsor.
As a Queensland-based senator he’s safe in the federal Parliament for now and might want to stay in that place until a safer parachute can be found.
There was also comment and conjecture on both sides of the political fence yesterday that the seat demands a homegrown or local candidate.
Finding a high-profile one that fits that mould might be the test of the party.
Adam Marshall may have fielded some calls along those lines yesterday, and he did admit as much when grilled by the media, but he has made no secret of his interest in the linkages, issues and policies that state politics offers right now to a councillor from a local government background.
The successful Nationals candidates will be chosen by a popular vote of all Nationals members enrolled in each electorate.
