In recent weeks, Dugald Saunders has become Dubbo MP Troy Grant’s "plus one" at public announcements, turning up to every possible Nationals photo opportunity. 

And now he’s the stand-in even when Mr Grant can’t be there. On Tuesday, he joined the Attorney General at the announcement of a joint partnership with council to commit $500,000 to installing CCTV cameras in hotspots across the council area before heading to Wellington for another announcement. 

Has Mr Grant decided to retire early and let Mr Saunders do the work as a Nationals member? When asked Mr Saunders did say he was the candidate and Mr Grant was still the Dubbo MP. 

According to Mr Grant, all Mr Saunders is doing "as the government’s candidate" is "forming relationships with Ministers and knowing what is happening with the various project across the electorate". 

So, with Mr Saunders already forming these relationships and making the announcements that Mr Grant has worked so hard for, do we not need to go to the polls? 

Mr Grant and the current Liberal/Nationals team have done the hard work to secure the funding that the Dubbo electorate is currently receiving. 

Yet it seems Mr Saunders is now reaping the rewards simply by turning up to the press conferences and using them for photo opportunities to support his campaign. 

His argument is that it is important for him to show up to these announcements so that is he aware of what the government is doing.

But if that's the case, isn’t it important that all candidates know what the government is doing? So if they are elected they will be just as prepared? 

Mr Saunders isn’t the first candidate to turn up and stand beside (or instead of) the current MP. The same situation happened in Bathurst back in 2009 when former Labor MP Gerard Martin decided to stand down and Dale Turner was the candidate. 

Usually it’s a case of a lot more money for an electorate at the end of a term as a party tries to win the seat, or a lot of promises. But, again, it’s usually the incumbent that’s doing all the handing out of money after they have fought for the past few years. 

Is credit really going where it’s due? 

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