The West Australian National party has launched a scathing attack on the federal Liberal party over its preference deal with Labor, as state president James Hayward declared it a “dirty deal” to enshrine the duopoly of the major parties.



Hayward condemned the Labor and Liberal party machines for the deal in the WA seats of O’Connor and Durack, where National party candidates are challenging Liberal incumbents Rick Wilson and Melissa Price.

At the same time, the National party candidate for O’Connor, John Hassell, accused the Liberal party of treating the Nationals like a “non-event” while Western Australian seats were being “dudded” on the GST.

“They think we are expendable, cheap and easy to get rid of,” Hassell told Guardian Australia. “The first I heard about it was reading it in your paper online.”

Hayward confirmed the state Nationals were not told about the deal announced on Sunday and thought they had Labor preferences over the Liberals. He described the federal National party, “as disappointed as we are”.

“[The federal National secretariat] worked to get a better arrangement in place,” Hayward told Guardian Australia.

“We believed Labor would preference [us] in O’Connor and Durack. The big boys [Liberals] over-ran our boys on this deal. I can’t see our boys signing off on this.”

Hayward accused the Liberals of a deal designed to ensure regional WA did not have an independent voice in Canberra. In a Facebook statement, he warned “a vote for Labor is a vote for Liberals in O’Connor and Durack”.

“The Labor and Liberal party machines have done a dirty deal behind closed doors to further enshrine the duopoly of the major parties,” Hayward said.



“The Labor Party’s decision to preference the Liberals over The Nationals WA in O’Connor and Durack shows that both Labor and Liberal are prepared to trade off regional seats in order to win city seats.

“What we have seen is two lifelong political enemies come together to do a deal in an attempt to keep The Nationals WA, as true champions of the bush, out of the federal parliament.

“The Nationals WA are prepared to cross the floor and rattle cages to ensure regional WA is a priority in Canberra. All Rick Wilson and Melissa Price will do is toe the party line.”



Federal Labor promised to direct preferences to the Liberals ahead of the Nationals in O’Connor, Durack and the Victorian seat of Murray in return for Liberal preferences in inner city seats where Labor is being challenged by the Greens.

As a result, while the Coalition will win no more seats under the deal given the three rural seats will go to either the Liberals or the Nationals, the Labor party has shored up its senior members in inner cities, including Anthony Albanese and David Feeney.

In Murray, where Liberal MP Sharman Stone is retiring, the Nationals were confident their candidate Damien Drum was ahead of the Liberal candidate Duncan McGauchie until the preference deal. The Nationals are now unsure of the effect of the preference deal on the outcome.



But the deal could fall apart less than 48 hours after it was announced. Labor’s candidate for Durack Carol Martin has indicated her how-to-vote cards were already printed, giving the Greens and the National party preferences over the Liberal party.

“We’re not buying into any of the rubbish. This seat is one of the biggest seats in the country and it’s all rural,” she told the ABC.

“All of these people live in remote areas, so we’re a little bit different and we actually care about where our votes go.”

Hassell said in O’Connor, he had been told Labor candidate Jon Ford had also directed preferences to the Nationals over the Liberals in pre-poll voting material.

In WA, the National party has remained separate to the Liberal party at a state level. Hayward described the relationship as an “alliance” rather than a coalition, in which state National party ministers can “step out” of cabinet if they don’t agree with a position.

“It gives our guys an opportunity to be independent,” said Hayward.

However, in the past National MPs have come together in coalition at a federal level, including former WA National MP for O’Connor Tony Crook, who served only one term from 2010 before retiring. The WA National party currently have no members in the federal parliament.



Hassell said he was standing for O’Connor (which Wilson holds by 0.9%) because of the 27 WA politicians in the federal parliament, “not one is standing up for the GST in Western Australia”. In Durack, the Nationals candidate Lisa Cole is standing against Melissa Price on a margin on 15.2%.

A seat of 868,576 square kilometres, O’Connor stretches from Albany off the south western coast of WA to the South Australian and Northern Territory borders. It covers 34% of the state and is larger than NSW. Hassell said infrastructure was a major issue and described the internet coverage as below “third world”.

“The internet is universally appalling across electorate, we have such high earning capacity so we should have at least half the capacity of internet in the city. It is third world standards – no probably below third world standards”.