There are just hours left in the fight for the seat of Tamworth, much of which has been carried out on the battlefield of Gunnedah.
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The fight has failed to flag in the final hours, with independent Stan Heuston announcing he has backflipped on his backflip to go back to a preference-neutral position.
Mr Heuston slammed the Nationals earlier this week as “redneck dinosaurs of our worst fears” who had failed to support democratic reform.
But Mr Heuston announced yesterday he had received a statement from Nationals candidate Kevin Anderson that changed his mind.
“I regret any confusion I have caused to the public on this issue, but I acted in good faith at all times with the information that was available to me in accordance with schedules I and others had indicated commitments to,” he said.
“Any confusion which campaign pressures have led to should not overshadow the fact that whichever of the two leading candidates is elected for Tamworth will go to parliament committed to party reform.”
NSW will go to the polls on Saturday with seven contenders for the seat of Tamworth.
The election has been tipped to be a two-horse race between independent Peter Draper and Mr Anderson, and has seen fighting words and big promises, particularly in Gunnedah.
Mr Anderson’s campaign has seen several visits from Deputy Premier Troy Grant as well as a number of heavy-hitters from the NSW front bench.
Mr Draper has been a vocal supporter of the anti-Shenhua Watermark Coal mine cause.