Taylor defends putting One Nation ahead of Farrer independent as ‘least worst option’

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has defended preferencing One Nation ahead of high-profile independent Michelle Milthorpe in the Farrer May 9 byelection, declaring this was “the least worst option”.

In a close result, preferences from the Liberals and Nationals could be vital in getting One Nation’s David Farley over the line, which would be the first time the party had won a House of Representatives seat.

Farley’s victory would be a major springboard for One Nation going into the November Victorian election.

The Coalition parties have insisted Milthorpe is a “teal” because she receives funding from Climate 200. She has repeatedly rejected the “teal” label.

Read more: Politics with Michelle Grattan: why Farrer is a key test for One Nation vs the Coalition

The Liberals and Nationals, who are preferencing each other, both have Milthorpe behind One Nation on their how-to-vote cards.

Taylor told the ABC on Sunday:

When we look at the other parties, the truth is that the teals have consistently in the parliament, the vast majority of the time, voted with the Greens.

And in a place like Farrer, that’s going to be bad for the economy, it’s going to be bad for agriculture and agricultural communities and access to water, it’s going to be bad for fuel and energy security and abundance.

If you vote teal, you get Green. And so […] beyond preferencing the National Party, [we] are picking the least worst option.

The truth is that we don’t want to see teal policies for Farrer or for this country.“

Polling done for Milthorpe has shown Farley and her neck-and-neck on primary votes, with Farley ahead on a two-candidate basis. Neither the Liberal nor the Nationals candidate is considered to be competitive, with prepolling starting this week.

Liberal sources have previously argued the party’s base would be outraged if Milthorpe were preferenced ahead of One Nation, although the decision will be another strike against the party among many alienated former Liberal urban voters.

Nationals leader Matt Canavan told Sky News on Sunday the teals were "really tricky. They say and do anything to try and win”.

Canavan claimed “million and millions” of dollars were coming into the Farrer campaign “from billionaires in Sydney with an inner city Sydney agenda, that they then try and hide”.

He said Nationals voters should put the “teal in independent clothing right down the bottom” of their ballot paper.

Canavan said that, at a candidates forum in Deniliquin, Milthorpe had said net zero was pretty unrealistic right now but “she was in a room full of farmers”. “She’s admitted she’s taking money from Climate 200 in Sydney, who obviously want to spread net zero across this country, want to shut down our energy sources.”

Milthorpe said last week:“The Coalition has done a deal with One Nation because they are worried One Nation will wipe them out.

"We will never know what One Nation offered the Liberal Party to strike this deal, but what we do know is this isn’t about Farrer. This is a decision made for the good of the Liberal Party, not for the good of our community.”

Both Canavan and Pauline Hanson spoke at an anti-immigration rally outside Parliament House on Sunday. Hanson said victory for One Nation in Farrer would “win Barnaby [Joyce] a mate in the lower house to work with him”.