ANDREW Gee has slammed the "nasty National Party machine" while brushing off a call for his resignation if Calare votes "no" on the Voice to Parliament.
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On Friday, October 13, the office for senator Ross Cadell - the Nationals whip in the senate - issued a press release saying Mr Gee had failed to listen to his electorate on the Voice referendum.
Mr Cadell said that, if predictions of a landslide win for the "no" campaign in the seat of Calare eventuate, then Mr Gee should resign from Parliament.
"Mr Gee failed to listen to the people of Calare when it comes to the Voice to Parliament. The National Party did," he said.
"If on Saturday the people of Calare vote 'no' to Anthony Albanese's Voice then Andrew Gee should resign immediately.
"If he wants to claim he left the Nationals because of our position on the Voice, and has any integrity and is not just a gutless whinger, he will resign as Member for Calare if the electorate votes no on Saturday."
But it seems Mr Gee has no intention of doing that, believing Mr Cadell's comments are a sign the party is worried about winning Calare back.
"That's the nasty National Party machine all over, always trying to control what people say, think and do," he said.
"They hate it when anyone dares to think for themselves instead of towing their precious party line. People have had a gutful of machine politicians.
"... The fact that the party has lined up an out-of-town senator to send out a nasty press release like this shows how very worried they are about winning the seat back.
"It's a shame they put more effort into writing vicious press releases than they do actually working on issues like providing proper disaster assistance for our region."
Mr Gee served in the federal government as a Nationals MP from July, 2016 up until his resignation from the party on December 23, 2022, at which time he switched to being an independent.
When he announced his resignation, he cited his party's position on the Voice as the primary reason.
"I can't reconcile the fact that every Australian will get a free vote on the vitally important issue of the Voice, yet National Party MPs are expected to fall into line," he said at the time.
In his press release on Friday, Mr Cadell called the Calare MP's resignation from the Nationals an "opportunistic attempt to chase publicity and self-promotion".
Further to that, he claimed Mr Gee chose not to contribute during the months-long program to establish the party room's position, and had waited until the 11th hour to call with his position on the Voice.
Mr Gee pushed back on this claim.
"I made my position supporting the Voice public before the last election and I stand by it," he said.
"It was disappointing that they held a party meeting to decide their position on it when I was at a funeral in Eugowra, and then subsequently tried to muzzle me from speaking out."
The public dispute between the two politicians comes just one day before the final opportunity to vote in the Voice referendum.
Polls will close at 6pm on Saturday, October 14, with counting to commence immediately after.
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Rachel Chamberlain
I have been a journalist at the Western Advocate since 2014.
I have been a journalist at the Western Advocate since 2014.
