Former Howard minister Larry Anthony, son of previous Nationals leader Doug Anthony, voted in despite lobbying for the $1.2bn Watermark coalmine

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Former Howard minister, Larry Anthony, who lobbied for the $1.2bn Shenhua Watermark coalmine, has just been voted in as president of the National party and remains on the NSW lobbyist register in spite of claims he has removed himself.

Battle for Liverpool Plains: Chinese coal project tears at fabric of rural NSW Read more

Farmers – the Nationals’ constituency – are vehemently opposed to the mine and have vowed to campaign against National party member and agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce at the next election.

The presidency goes to the heart of the issue of land usage which is threatening to split the party over the fate of prized agricultural land on Liverpool Plains and elsewhere.

It is understood that Anthony’s candidacy was supported by the deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, and Nationals director Scott Mitchell but opposed by supporters of Joyce.

On Friday, Truss said Anthony had “taken himself off the lobbyist list” and his relationship with Shenhua was “severed some time ago.”



“That is a genuine break from the lobbyist register, and both the Liberal party and ourselves and the LNP in particular in Queensland have taken a view that registered lobbyists should not hold office, senior office positions within the party, and Larry Anthony is respecting that view,” he told Fairfax.

But Anthony is still listed as a co-owner of the firm SAS Consulting Group, which counts the Chinese state-owned Shenhua group among its client list.

National party director Scott Mitchell announced the news via Twitter that Anthony – son of former Nationals leader Doug Anthony – was elected unopposed at the party’s national conference.



After the decision was announced, Joyce said he supported Anthony as president although he would not go into the private vote.

“Absolutely important that we have a person of competency, I don’t want to go into what is a private vote, private votes remain private,” he said.

“I support absolutely Larry being the president. It is now absolutely implicit on all of us to work together as a group because it’s only as a team we have a chance of winning the election.”

The conference was shocked over the weekend when the NSW chairman Bede Burke, who nominated Anthony for the position, withdrew the nomination.

But Mitchell pressed ahead with the nomination and obtained legal advice on the party rules and the appointment went ahead.

The outgoing federal Nationals president, Christine Ferguson, said she was not sure what effect Anthony’s presidency would have on the outcome in Joyce’s seat of New England, where the former independent Tony Windsor was threatening to run against the agriculture minister.

“Who knows? Anthony’s the new president and we all have to work together to make sure we retain our seats,” she said.

Ferguson confirmed legal advice was sought to ensure the constitutional requirements were met.

“We needed to make sure we interpreted the constitution correctly and we are quite satisfied that process proceeded properly”.

One of Anthony’s potential competitors, National party senior vice president Dexter Davies, was forced to withdraw from the race due to a conflict of interest, given his employment with the Western Australian government.

National party sources said the decision would cause ordinary members to leave the party.

“They will be asking themselves, what is the point of being a member if 200 can turn up to the national conference and then be locked out of the vote for president,” said one source.

“People will be unhappy. Some could leave the party. Who knows what’s next for the National party? We could go the way of the Democrats.”

Tony Windsor, who has not ruled out running for New England, said Anthony’s appointment demonstrated the “shambles” of the National party.

“The whole process demonstrates what a shambles they are,” Windsor said.

“Some of the reports say the Nationals are worrying that it might favour Windsor. It just demonstrates they don’t look at the real issues. It’s not Windsor or what it looks like, it’s about who they are meant to be representing.”

He said if the chair of the state national party couldn’t comprehend what he was doing, “it shows him up as being completely ineffective”.

“And this bloke [national director] Scott Mitchell can virtually overrule the state chairman who nominated Anthony. Where was the deputy leader? Where was Joyce?”

Liverpool Plains farmer Tim Duddy, who represents Caroona Coal Action Group, said it would be the death knell of the National party.

“Finally the Nationals have looked in the mirror and seen what they want to be,” Duddy said.

Greg Hunt approves $1.2bn Shenhua coalmine on Liverpool Plains Read more

“They want to be the mining party, rural Australia will deal with it and it won’t be too long before they go the way of the dodo which is where they deserve to be.”

Anthony’s candidacy was also supported by previous Nationals leader John Anderson, who was chairman of Eastern Star Gas.

Two weeks ago, Young Nationals delegates supported a motion that opposed the Shenhua mine on the Liverpool Plains.



But Warren Truss has said Anthony was “entitled to make a new beginning” and should be “taken in good faith”.