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.