RECOUNTS of a heated exchange between Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and an anti-mining activist have put a local watering hole on the map.
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Liverpool Plains farmer Nicola Chirlian claims she was told to “piss off” three times by the New England MP during an encounter in Uralla’s Top Pub on Thursday night.
Conflicting reports of the confrontation have emerged, with locals saying Mr Joyce was “harassed”, “badgered” and “accosted” by Ms Chirlian, and friend Megan Kuhn, while the pair accused Mr Joyce of telling Ms Chirlian to piss off.
Top Pub licensee Matt Campbell told The Leader his staff intervened in the confrontation and asked the women to leave, but maintained the employees didn’t hear any swearing.
“Maybe it was said when he went to the bathroom,” he said.
Mr Campbell was not working on the night, but said his staff would call him if something serious had happened.
“If something major happens, they will ring me. They didn’t ring me last night,” he said.
But Mr Joyce would not be drawn on the swearing claims, and instead issued a statement yesterday afternoon.
“I was talking to locals who invited me over to have a beer with them,” he said.
“I was approached by people who were persistent and badgering.
“I left to go to the bathroom and when I came back they were pestering the group.
“Then bar staff intervened and asked her to leave the area.”
Ms Chirlian, who is a central figure in the battle against the proposed Shenhua Watermark mega coal mine and is convening a forum in Tamworth on June 23, told The Sydney Morning Herald she approached Mr Joyce to ask whether he would attend.
“He got really quite loud. Other people in our group who were in the other room could hear him. He said ‘Nicky, piss off, just piss off, piss off’,” she said.