The Shooters, Fishers and Farmer’s Party have done a deal with One Nation to ensure the controversial party doesn’t run a candidate against SFF Member for Orange Phil Donato in next month’s state election.
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The deal will also send preferences each other’s way in the upper house and and the parties will work together in the lower house races to achieve their aim of “causing a hung parliament”.
SFF member of the legislative council Robert Borsack said the deal didn’t extend beyond the March 23 vote, but he said the parties could potentially form a voting bloc if a projected hung parliament comes to the fore.
“It’s just for the election itself … there would be potential for [voting together] and it certainly could happen but it would most likely be on a bill-by-bill basis,” Mr Borsack said.
Mr Borsack said One Nation had agreed not to run candidates in Orange, Barwon and Murray to give the SFF its best chance at winning lower house seats, and ongoing discussions would occur between the two parties about individual seats around the state.
However, when asked about the potential for a deal member for Orange Phil Donato said he has no interest in One Nation’s policies, but wouldn’t be drawn into the potential of holding the balance of power.
We don’t have an issue with them as a party, we have a lot of issues we’re similar on such as farming and water and drought relief.
- Robert Borsack
Mr Donato said he didn’t know about the deal, or One Nation’s policies, and called a potential voting bloc “pure speculation”.
“I’m not interested in what their policies are, I haven’t read them. I’m not focused on [One Nation], I’m focused on winning the seat.”
SFF and One Nation have policy overlap, according to Mr Borsack, who wasn’t bothered by negative views of Pauline Hanson’s party by Labor and the Liberals.
“We don’t have an issue with them as a party, we have a lot of issues we’re similar on such as farming and water and drought relief,” he said.
However, while Mr Borsack said he had read One Nation’s policy, he couldn’t cite any of them directly – either ones he agreed or disagreed with.
The party wasn’t expecting any backlash from the deal, with the former chair saying the aim of both parties was to cause a hung parliament.
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