The Greens have marched into the Nationals heartland of rural NSW and they are gunning for top dog Barnaby Joyce, accusing the "sell-out" Deputy Prime Minister of forsaking the interests of farmers by denying climate change.
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Greens leader Richard Di Natale has also questioned the sincerity of Mr Joyce's weekend rumination that "climate change might really be happening" and he believes rural communities, on the "frontline" of climate change, are disillusioned with the regional party's history on the issue.
Speaking with Fairfax Media from the Liverpool Plains leg of a week-long country tour, Senator Di Natale said: "It's very hard to find somebody who has good things to say about the National Party on the issue of global warming.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale has also questioned the sincerity of Mr Joyce's weekend rumination that "climate change might really be happening" and he believes rural communities, on the "frontline" of climate change, are disillusioned with the regional party's history on the issue.
Speaking with Fairfax Media from the Liverpool Plains leg of a week-long country tour, Senator Di Natale said: "It's very hard to find somebody who has good things to say about the National Party on the issue of global warming.
"I speak to farmers often about the issue of global warming and there are very few who don't accept the science and that it is a serious threat."
He said people across the political spectrum feel let down and accused Mr Joyce of being "one of the great climate denialists in the Parliament".
During the carbon tax debates of the Rudd and Gillard governments, Mr Joyce called the issue "an indulgent and irrelevant debate because, even if climate change turns out to exist one day, we will have absolutely no impact on it whatsoever".
Last week, he told Good Weekend that the drought-ravaged country of his childhood made him "wonder whether climate change might really be happening".
"His recent comments," the Greens leader said, "are not a reflection of him re-evaluating his position based on the science. They're a reflection of the fact the farming community, based on the science, is very angry he's not representing their interests."
He said farmers suffer as water dries up, algal blooms increase, bushfires worsen and harvest seasons shift. He also said there are "massive" opportunities for solar and wind power in rural communities.
"These dinosaurs are creating huge uncertainty and holding rural communities back from realising renewable energy opportunities."
The Greens are seeking to boost their Senate votes in the bush, stopping in at places like Mildura, Tamworth and Breeza.
Regional support for the party is growing. In last year's NSW election, they successfully converted the north coast seat of Ballina, held by the Nationals for 27 years, and almost knocked off Lismore.
On Mr Joyce's homefront battle, Senator Di Natale endorsed the challenger.
"We've got a Greens candidate in New England and I think people should support him but if it's a choice between between Tony Windsor and Barnaby Joyce, Tony Windsor offers a much more enlightened view of what it means to represent a rural community."
On Wednesday night, Senator Di Natale will participate in his first debate of the campaign, facing off against Mr Joyce and Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon on rural issues.
