A Nationals parliamentarian has categorically denied calling a Liberal volunteer a "camp little bitch" in a disagreement over election signs, while a counter-claim of racism has been levelled against a Liberal MP.
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It's understood the Liberal volunteer made an unofficial complaint to his party headquarters alleging NSW Nationals deputy leader Gurmesh Singh called him a "camp little bitch" at an early polling booth in Port Macquarie on Monday, March 10.
Mr Singh told ACM, the publisher of this masthead, that he never made the comment.
"The allegation's absolutely false and defamatory," Mr Singh said.
ACM has been told a disagreement began over the placement of party political signs - also known as corflutes - which advertise to voters who the candidates are with photos, party logos and slogans.
In an increasingly tense race between the Coalition partners to win the NSW state seat in a by-election, the Nationals have also accused a Liberal MP of a racist slur.
The Nationals allege Ray Williams - the member for Kellyville on Sydney's north-western fringes - of saying Mr Singh, who has Indian heritage, had "gone to buy some curry" when he went to get a cool drink.
Mr Williams was contacted for comment.
On the margins
The claims have emerged as rivalry between the conservative partners intensifies in an unusual contest for the mid-north coast seat, triggered by the retirement of Liberal Leslie Williams.
A historical "gentleman's agreement" exists between the parties that often stops them running against one another in the same electorate.
That tradition has been broken in the Port Macquarie by-election, which will have consequences for the upcoming federal poll, which has to be held by May 17.
Sitting Nationals MP Pat Conaghan won the federal seat of Cowper, which stretches north from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour, by just 5,172 votes at the 2022 election.
He is up against the same independent again in 2025 - Caz Heise, a high-profile local backed by Climate 200 and the Regional Voices Fund.
In a region affected in recent years by bushfires, flooding and coastal erosion, Ms Heise lists climate change among her concerns.
'An absolute shit fight'
One senior member of the Nationals told ACM the by-election campaign had been "a disgrace".
"It has just been an absolute shit fight," they said.
The public social media accounts of upper house Nationals MP Wes Fang provide a tongue-in-cheek insight into the battle between his party's candidate, Sean Gleeson, and the Liberals' Robert Dwyer.
"The Nats MPs have all had real lives before politics," a February 22 post reads.
"We didn't just spend our lives in the political bubble (student politics, political staffing, then becoming MPs)... Nats MPs have all had real jobs, aren't afraid of getting their hands dirty and don't wait for someone else to do the hard stuff."
Mr Fang goes on to ask local voters if they wanted "a genuinely hard-working, real person like Sean Gleeson" or if they'd prefer another "Silver-spoon" [sic] who hasn't put a single corflute up that is higher than his waist, because it's either too hard, hubris, or it's just not what he does!".
The Liberals and Nationals are also squaring off in three federal seats - Whitlam in the Illawarra region of NSW which is held by retiring Labor minister Stephen Jones, Bendigo in Victoria, also held by Labor, and the new WA electorate of Bullwinkel.
While that was unusual, it wasn't unheard of, Australian National University academic and ACM political analyst Mark Kenny said.
"You have got variations between the states ... and have different levels of adherence to that 'gentleman's agreement'," he said.
This was especially the case in Labor-held seats where the Coalition parties weren't "fighting for each other's asset".
