THE "childish infighting" of the Nationals and Liberals over their joint senate ticket is the perfect example of why Boggabilla farmer Peter Mailler felt compelled to stand for the Australian Democrats in the Upper House.
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Senior Nationals officials have urged supporters to ignore the Coalition's senate ticket deal, and instead vote below the line for party's two candidates.
The tit-for-tat disagreement was ignited when Liberal Senator Jim Molan - who was relegated to the unwinnable fourth spot on the Coalition's joint Senate ticket - asked his supporters to ignore the Liberal Party's directives and instead give him their first preference below the line.
The Nationals were particularly aggrieved by Senator Molan's decision to take out advertisements in regional newspapers, directly targeting their voter base.
Boggabilla farmer and NSW Australian Democrats senate candidate Peter Mailler said a key part of the party's policy was to bring integrity back in to politics.
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He said the two parties were like "kids fighting over a lolly packet", which was exactly the type of behaviour his party, and the voters, were tired of seeing.
"I have a problem with how pathetic the whole show is," Mr Mailler said.
"The appropriate way to deal with this is to tell the Liberals to pull their rogue candidate in to line, not to go tit-for-tat.
"With the Nats picking a fight, they are actually undermining two strong female candidates, in the Liberal's Hollie Hughes and [Nationals] Perin Davey."
The Nationals' NSW state director Ross Cadell said asking supporters to vote below the line was not a decision the party took lightly.
"We're disappointed," he said.
"We have had a tight Coalition for a long time that has worked very strongly. Jim's an honourable guy, he's done a lot of things in his life well.
"But at a time when a bit of loyalty and a bit of team spirit [is needed], it's just disappointing."