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It’s been a busy fortnight for Member for Murray Adrian Piccoli and his New South Wales Nationals. The party’s disastrous result at the Orange by-election has raised some serious questions not only about Mr Piccoli’s future, but that of his party. The Nationals are losing grasp on safe seats and votes traditionally coming from the right, but it’s not all doom and gloom for the conservative side of politics in NSW. Mr Piccoli’s now famous ‘bang, bang, bang’ rant in State Parliament last week was a suggestion Labor sold its soul to bury the Nationals in Orange by preferencing Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF) MP Philip Donato, whose main policies promote relaxed gun control. The expected election of the first SFF MP to the NSW Parliament's lower house sparked uproar from The Nationals, with education minister Adrian Piccoli feigning shooting members of the opposition front bench to make a point. In extraordinary scenes, Mr Piccoli began yelling "Bang, bang, bang!" while pointing at Labor MPs. "You don't get out of it that easily!" he yelled. "That's the Shooters party!". "They're not interested in education … they want to get rid of the national gun laws. That's the deal that they did." Mr Donato is now expected to claim victory in Orange, which saw a record 34 per cent swing against the Nationals on the primary vote. It smells of desperation from both parties, struggling to remain on side with their electorates. For the minor parties the Orange result means relevance becomes much more of a reality. NSW and most political fronts in the western world are currently receiving backlash from voters, which means the major players in a duel-party system need to address how they represent their voters, and the rhetoric they use. The failure to do this on all fronts – in the US, the UK and federally in Australia – means more and more voters are putting their political allegiances with minor parties and the far right. It’s not only speeding up a world-wide leap towards conservatism, but putting serious pressure on the two-party system. There are several theories why these unorthodox parties are receiving more support. But whether the support is genuine or in protest, it means a fast changing political landscape for the major parties.

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