The Age pronounced:

"Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is facing a potentially dangerous, multi-pronged attack in his seat of New England, with the challenge of Tony Windsor to be augmented by a high-profile candidate representing the Greens."

What they forget is:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/guide/neng/

Where Barnaby got 54% of the vote in his own right with Labor getting 11.9% and the greens 4.6%, and even with preferences labor only scraped together 29.3%

This is a conservative country town, and with Tony Windsor having aligned himself so closely with Labor and the greens, in my opinion, is likely to have alienated the constituents that previously supported him.

While the journos from Fairfax and the ABC are looking for a titanic battle between TW and BJ, I feel the game is over before it started.

According to articles on the web Barnaby Joyce
tells us he is looking forward to the challenge of
the re-emergence of his long-time
political rival, Tony Windsor.

Whereas Tony Windsor says he's fully aware it will
be a David and Goliath event.

Mr Windsor's political journey was one where he
started as an Independent and ended up as a member of
the Labor-Green-Independent Alliance.

Mr Windsor held New England for 12 years and played
kingmaker for the Gillard Government before bowing
out of federal politics in 2013 citing health and
family issues.

We're told that - Mr Windsor's widely anticipated move
pits him against one of the most senior members of the
Turnbull Government against a highly successful independent
who has based his career on fighting for local electoral
issues.

It will be interesting to see if he succeeds.

Only a total idiot, with tendencies to self flagellation could possibly vote for anyone who helped inflect Gillard & her idiots on the country.

Of course the US voters showed just such tendencies when they actually returned Obama for a second term, so anything is possible, even in what should be a sensible country electorate.

We know Turnbull will be hoping to get rid of Barnaby, & he would find a fellow traveller in the disgusting Windsor. We have to make sure we get rid of Turnbull at almost any cost, but not by electing Windsor.

We live in interesting times, as the old Chinese curse goes.

Shadow and Hasbeen, you seem to have already forgotten that the alternative was Tony Abbott!

Many of Tony Windsor's constituents who were angry at him at the time have since apologised to him after they saw what having Abbott in power was really like.

Barnaby Joyce once stood up for the interests of regional Australia, but nowadays he just toes the party line. He has aligned himself too closely with the interests of coal miners. Tony Windsor wants to ensure coal mining does not adversely affect farming.

As for Obama, his reelection was unsurprising as the alternative was Mitt Romney.

Aidan I'll take Tony Abbott in preference to any others on offer at the moment. That goes double for the likes of Rudd, Gillard or Turnbull, all total incompetents losers.

Anyone Who has not seen the stupidity of bringing Turnbull back by now must be totally blind.

SM,

"Where Barnaby got 54% of the vote in his own right with Labor getting 11.9% and the greens 4.6%, and even with preferences labor only scraped together 29.3%"

Windsor's first preference vote count in New England at the last 3 elections he contested:

2004 - 57.27%
2007 - 61.94%
2010 - 61.88%

And that's before the Oz electorate got to experience what a vacuous load of bad policy-no policy blatherers were the LNP in govt.

Having watched joyces performance over many years all I can think is "how dumb are the people of New England?"

in fitting with Greens hypocrisy did not Windsor sell his farm to coal seemers? Oh thats right another gw alarmist who holds to the fraudulent faith.

SM,

You also conveniently overlook Greg Hunt's decision to allow Shenhua to build its dirty great coal mine on the Liverpool plains in New England.

Constituents were and are furious with Joyce - the minister for water, agriculture - for not doing more to oppose such a likely decimation of prime farming land.

What a weak-kneed joke Joyce has become over that issue.

runner,

Windsor sold it because the miners were going to mine his land regardless. Land owners have no power to stop resource companies from ravaging their land.

A minor technicality to your narrative, but there you go.

I hope Windsor beats Joyce in New England, but I doubt he will have the numbers now.
Then again, if Hasbeen doesn't like Windsor, then maybe he has more chance than I think :)

I like Windsor because he saw right through the dictatorial Tony Abbott, and in the end he was right.
I can see why most of the Abbott tragics on this forum dislike Windsor....

I think Tony Windsor is one of the few true gentlemen of the parliament and I was thoroughly impressed by the way he conducted himself when he was in federal politics.

He is conservative but one who is concerned about future generations of Australians as evidenced by his support for action on climate change and Gonski initiatives.

The obscene degree to which Hasbeen and Shadowminister thought the sun shone from Abbott's proverbial gives eloquent testimony to their ability or lack there of to pass judgement on Windsor.

I wish the former member for New England every success. To me he epitomises many Australian values that Joyce either sorely lacks or is prepared to forego to further his lobby group.

New England will not forget Windsor's support of Gillard. The man is a clown who should receive the humiliating drubbing he deserves. He is either very brave or completely ga ga; the latter has my money.

ttbn,

However Barnaby's support of the shambolic Abbott and the vacuous Turnbull are...?

Barnaby - the minister for water resources and agriculture - who failed to oppose a gargantuan mine on prime agricultural land - who waffles almost as expertly as Turnbull?

That Barnaby?

Shadow Minister, while many people in the electorate of New England were disappointed in Tony Windsor's support for the Gilliard Government, Barnaby Joyce's popularity has been deeply undermined by the Shenhua Watermark coal mine and his continuing backing of Tony Abbott.

Ignoring the impact of Abbott government decisions on mining and water among the electorate of New England comes with significant peril. There is deep unhappiness with Barnaby Joyce.

As far as loosing prime farming land is concerned, personally, I would be more concerned as to how people think we will be able to afford to farm it in ten years from now.

The future viability of farming of anything edible is as always in the hands of the consumer, and if history is anything to go by, all I can say is don't hold your breath because once prices for produce reach a certain level, consumers find an alternative. Lettuce are still sold for $2-$4 and when cabbages hit $7 they sit on the shelf.

Apart from this, farmers also have the option of returning to bio fuel crops, or even grazing.

Our constant demand for cheaper foods, aided by the likes of Coles and Woolies, will eventually be our downfall leaving the only suppliers of fresh food to be the Chinese who have bought the farm as they will just use their own imported slave labor.

There is more behind Chinese investment in farmland than just growing their foods. We are just too stupid to realize it.

Poirot,

I said nothing for or against Joyce; I merely said what I thought about Windsor. If you really must have a go at me, wait until you have a reason. I don't have any thoughts on Joyce, nor do I need any to express a view on the one of the most treacherous and self-serving people (in my opinion) in politics.

Tony Windsor is a multi millionaire fat cat that did extremely well during his time as MP, and made a fat profit by selling his farm to the coal miners for well over the nominal value. His recent conversion to protest against the coal miners however you paint it appears grossly hypocritical and opportunistic.

Both the electorates of Lynne and New England are conservative with combined totals of greens and labor just above single figures in both the 2010 and 2013 elections, and the electorates' deep feeling of betrayal in ushering a wildly incompetent labor government is the reason that RO and TW "retired", and has not been forgotten. TW getting preferences from Labor and the greens is a poisoned chalice.

"Both the electorates of Lynne and New England are conservative with combined totals of greens and labor just above single figures in both the 2010 and 2013 elections, and the electorates' deep feeling of betrayal in ushering a wildly incompetent labor government is the reason that RO and TW "retired"..."

You forget, SM, that Tony Windsor rejected Abbott's pleas to make him PM in 2010 because he knew what a shambolic character he was. Australia didn't know what "incompetent" was until Abbott stepped up to the plate....we're a little further down the track now - and it appears Windsor's political judgement re Abbott was spot on.

As for the tussle in New England...

"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.
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."

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/barnaby-to-be-tied-up-in-windsor-knot-20160311-gngm1x.html#ixzz42dPt6lv

Poirot,

Let's try and forget your amnesia over the Rudd/Juliar/Rudd Labor/greens government that was the worst government that Aus has seen in 3 decades and the most shambolic, incompetent, and corrupt since Gough Whitless.

Look at the country community of New England, and the hardship the farmers suffered at the hands of Juliar's idiotic freeze of the live exports, vs the farmers' access to American, Cbinese, Japanese, Korean markets thanks to Abbott's finalization of the FTAs.

But the real issue is TW's despicable betrayal of his electorate, which is the reason they dumped his arse last time.

SM,

"Let's try and forget your amnesia over the Rudd/Juliar/Rudd Labor/greens government that was the worst government that Aus has seen in 3 decades and the most shambolic, incompetent, and corrupt since Gough Whitless."

Lol!...you might have a had a leg to stand on before Oz got to experience the scintillating governance of the LNP.

Have they managed to pass a budget yet?

Any policies on the way?

Which leader was dumped a la Rudd/Gillard mid term?

Which former leader has made an art form out of sniping against the current regime?

Which current leader walks around waffling ad nauseam as if he's hosting an endless hot air convention?

P,

To answer your questions:

Have they managed to pass a budget yet? - Yes 2014 and 2015.

Any policies on the way? - Senate reform and ABCC

Which leader was dumped a la Rudd/Gillard mid term? - Hawke.

Which former leader has made an art form out of sniping against the current regime? - KRudd

Which current leader walks around waffling ad nauseam as if he's hosting an endless hot air convention? - Shorten

For You:

Which PM steadfastly supported an MP that was clearly corrupt?

Which PM never met a single promise she made?

Here are some questions for you that are more relevant to the country than the inner city based Greens:

Which PMs signed FTAs allowing farmers increased access to the USA, Japan, S Korea, China and are lining up FTAs with India and the EU?

Which PM nearly ruined thousands of Farmers with a moronic OTT reaction to a TV program by banning live cattle exports to Indonesia?

Which PM announce a plan for the world's largest carbon tax, increasing the cost to all business incl farming just 17 days after giving the country an iron clad oath not to?

Which MP after complaining about coal mining sold his farm to a coal mine for a fat markup without a word of protest?

Given that Labor and the greens together have never polled higher than the mid teens in decades, which party would you think the voters of New England in 2010 would have prefered their ex NP MP to support?

SM,

It must be so galling to you to watch the fed LNP undergoing precisely the same internal wrangling that you denounced in Labor.

The irony couldn't be more stinging.

Abbott gone, Hockey failed and gone, ministers dropping out or retiring by the dozen.

I suppose you're going to tell me that Scottie Morrison actually knows how to turn on his office calculator.

Now there's a vacuous clod exposed in his role as Treasurer for the hollow drip he is.

(I reckon Barnaby has got a fight on his hands....whether you want to believe it or not:)

Shadow, the thing you appear to have failed to realise about Tony Abbott's spin is that it isn't actually true! No matter how many times the Murdoch press repeated the lie that it was the worst government Australia's had, there's no objective evidence to support that.

Corruption is a serious allegation. Do you have any actual evidence of it?

Although I don't think the live export freeze was the best course of action, there was an overwhelming call for the government to be doing something, and the industry's response to the problem in the week before the freeze was grossly inadequate. And the temporary drop in beef prices that followed was not a threat to the New England farms in the way that the proposed coal mines are.

Finalising those FTAs was probably the best thing Abbott ever did, but how much of that is down to being in the right place at the right time? Most of the negotiations were done under Labor governments.

TW did not betray his electorate. He did not break any promises, and he did what he thought was best for his electorate. Some of his constituents undoubtedly felt betrayed at the time, but less so now after they've seen what an Abbott government was like.

And TW's electorate did not dump him; he decided to retire. 'Twas only because he wasn't standing that so much of the vote went to Barnaby.

You exaggerate when you accuse JG of giving the country an iron clad oath. She promised she would put a price on carbon but it would not be in the form of a carbon tax. She broke that promise and paid a heavy price for it politically. Tony Abbott also lied about the carbon tax, broke election promises, and paid a heavy political price.

And the whinging about TW selling land to a coal mine is stupid. As he himself pointed out, surely if there's going to be coal mining, mediocre agricultural land next to an existing coal mine is the best place for it?

SM,

"Any policies on the way? - Senate reform and ABCC"

Lol!

I meant something for the people of Australia....not just some slithery mechanism to keep the "No-#ideasboom" party in govt and/or give them a Senate majority.

Poirot, while I oppose the government's gerrymander disguised as senate reform, I don't understand why you are so contemptuous of reintroducing the ABCC. It was good at stamping out union corruption when it was running, and without it union corruption returned. So surely you're better off with it?

Broadening it, as some of the senators are suggesting, is probably a good idea too, but I don't think that should be a condition of its reintroduction.

Aidan,

I'm contemptuous because that's a reasonable stand when dealing with Conservative govts attacking unions.

"In the debate around the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) ever since Tony Abbott's opportunistic calling of the Cole Royal Commission in 2001, the same spurious arguments have been run. The ABCC, we are told, is there to combat corruption and thuggery. This completely ignores the fact that the agency has never had any jurisdiction over these matters, which are the domain of the criminal law. However, a fact like that has never prevented successive ministers and media outlets from framing this as a debate between the forces of good – made up of the Coalition parties and their supporters, the property developers and constructors who are keen to root out corruption and thuggery – and the union/ALP/Greens mafia who are beholden to the wicked CFMEU..."

" You may be forgiven for thinking that those who claim the ABCC will combat thuggery and corruption cannot be mistaken – or worse, lying. But former ABCC director and current Fair Work Building Commission head Nigel Hadgkiss has said that in relation to criminal law, that the agency "does not prosecute these matters". The Minister for Employment has also clearly stated that "The ABCC's role under the bill will be to regulate workplace relations"

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/coalition-doesnt-let-the-facts-stand-in-the-way-of-the-fight-between-good-and-evil-20160204-gmm2qo.html#ixzz42mFGO2oi

Here's more on the subject:

http://theconversation.com/bringing-back-building-watchdog-helps-a-political-agenda-but-not-concerns-about-union-corruption-54051

Among the nebulous fluff and the 79 recommendations delivered upon conclusion of the $80 million charade that was TURC, none recommended re-establishing the ABCC.

How about a federal ICAC to address corruption?

Aidan,

For corruption just look at Craig Thomson - labor MP and Williamson, Labor president, all thieving from their own union, plus the dodgy AWU deals that Juliar did.

As for the FTA's, there was plenty of time for Labor to wrap up the negotiations, just that the unions wouldn't wear it. It took Abbott to finalise them.

P,

So how did Juliar's policies of "No carbon tax under a government I lead", the East Timor solution Juliar announced before discussing this with the East Timorese. What a stinking liar she was.

SM,

"So how did Juliar's policies of "No carbon tax under a government I lead", the East Timor solution Juliar announced before discussing this with the East Timorese. What a stinking liar she was"

Lol!...

Hilarious...if we were to discuss the incoming Abbott govt, we'd have to list the few things they did that were't broken promises.

Upon taking govt, the Abbott regime attempted to implement myriad policies that were the polar opposite of their pre-election spiel.

Liars extraordinaire!

P,

I see that you have completely failed to find any promises that Juliar kept. What I pointed out were the two examples where Juliar deliberately lied to the electorate knowing full well that she had no intention of keeping her promises. The list of promises she broke is as long as my arm. Juliar has truly earned her title.

SM,

Au contraire...I didn't give that blather of yours on the Gillard govt more than a moment's notice.

I don't see why you don't want to champion the Abbott govt.

Abbott was a champion liar....he even made a name for himself on lying about lying.

That's quite an achievement.

Australia didn't know just how fulsome pre-election deception could be until it ushered in the Abbott govt.

It was a sight to behold - almost from day 1 they started rolling out policy which was the antithesis of their election spiel.

Not to mention the shambolic co-dependent set-up in the PMO with Credlin stomping about abusing staff and ministers - and then chucking enormous emotional wobblers which necessitated Tones spending much time placating her.

How professional is that!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-11/cassidy-abbott,-credlin-and-the-abuse-of-power/7237386

"Abbott, Credlin and the abuse of power"

Shadow,

Both Craig Thompson and Michael Williamson were kicked out of Labor. And in both cases the corruption had nothing to do with their involvement in the ALP. As for Gillard, her conduct was scrutinised and cleared by a Royal Commission.

Gillard had every intention of keeping those two promises at the time she made them. She subsequently broke the carbon tax promise in a deal with the Greens, and was unable to keep the East Timor solution promise for exactly the same reason as Qantas CEO Alan Joyce couldn't keep his Jetstar Hong Kong promise: the deal was scuppered by premature announcement.

Aidan,

Thomson and Williamson were booted from the ALP long after iron clad evidence of their corruption became public, and only after huge pressure on Juliar.

P,

I don't accept your half truths and spin either. One thing is clear is that Juliar was the most dishonest and possibly corrupt PM that Australia has ever had.

Yep Poirot if it wasn't for Abbott quite possibly all females would be in as much danger as those walking the streets of Sweden and Germany. Then you would really have something to whinge about.

You know what, runner?

I'm always mightily entertained by fundamentalist religious clowns like yourself sniping at other religions and their followers.

I know it's tempting to try and insert your extreme bigotry into any thread that's going, but you're way off topic here.

As a voter in the New England electorate I am delighted that Tony Windsor is running for New England. Barnaby has used this electorate to further his own political career. He has not represented us as an elected member should. He has done nothing. His inactivity has resulted in the Flying School losing the Defence contract, no broadband, no representation of the farmers for the Liverpool Plains (despite being agricultural and water minister) and grand announcements and headline grabbing statements that mean zilch. I hope Windsor wins and to all you nay sayers - get your facts right.

and so say I.

Nocg,

Happily you are not representative of the majority of voters.

Notably Tony Whinger did nothing either.

Shadow Minister. Windsor did many things which Barnaby could have used to stop Shenhua mine. eg Water Trigger, bio-regional and risk assessments, Namoi Catchment Water Study. All of which Windsor fought for only to have Barnaby sit idle. Country people have had enough of the Nationals and their servitude, bought on by large political donations, to the mining industries. In the meantime, Barnaby ignored all these measures Windsor introduced which would have had the mines rejected on a sound scientific basis. He chose instead to grab a few headlines. Please don't comment on issues of which you are ignorant.

Nocg,

It would appear that TW in his time did bugger all to stop mining in New England, and profited very nicely from it, the only reason he has suddenly converted is because politically expedient to do so.

The Shenhua mine, which was granted a license under labor, now looks as though it is going to be shelved, and mining rights which lined labor's coffers looks as though it will be bought back under the Libs.

I would also invite you not to speak on things that you are clearly ignorant.

Shadow Minister,
TW as I said previously, bought about Water Trigger, Bioregional and Risk assessments which Joyce could have used when the mine was presented to FEDERAL government. Until then it was in the STATE sphere. Yes Labor granted the exploration license but Liberal govt at State level extended licenses. Ignorance is bliss - continue to believe your own rhetoric. We prefer a representative that works for our electorate, not a headline grabbing very plain show pony.

nocsg

The license was granted by Labor, however, what is stopping the development of the mine is not any water trigger, rather the low price of coal which makes it uneconomical to develop. On this basis the Liberal gov has offered to buy back the licenses. Keep up to date.

The only people you can blame for the Shenhua mine is Labor.

I prefer the candidate that works for the electorate and not for himself. I prefer Joyce over the show pony Tony whinger.