The NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is in disarray after two MPs quit over their leader's misogynistic comments to a former party colleague in parliament.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The member for Orange Philip Donato and Barwon MP Roy Butler announced their resignations from the party on Monday, a month after telling leader Robert Borsak to quit over his comments.
In parliament earlier this year, Mr Borsak suggested independent MP and former party member Helen Dalton should be "clocked".
Mr Donato, Mr Butler and Upper House member Mark Banasiak met with Mr Borsak in the final two sitting weeks of the NSW parliament last month and told him not to contest the March election.
READ ALSO:
At the party's annual general meeting in Singleton on Saturday, Mr Donato said the leader was again pressed on the comments, but remained unrepentant.
Mr Donato, who was elected in 2016, said he quit at the meeting and tendered his formal resignation to the party on Monday. He and Mr Butler will run as independents at the election.
The party was already grappling with internal struggles, Mr Donato said, and the comments to Ms Dalton were the final straw.
"He's never tried to withdraw those comments, he's never apologised, he's never tried to clarify them," Mr Donato told AAP.
"From someone with my own personal and professional integrity and credibility, and my background as a police officer and a prosecutor, I can't continue to support a leader like that."
Mr Butler confirmed to AAP he had also quit the party and would run as an independent at the election, saying his position had become untenable.
"There hasn't been any apology for the comments," he said.
"Fifty per cent of my voters are women," Mr Butler said.
"They don't expect me to stand idly by with a comment like that and just do nothing about it.
"I tried to do something about it and keep the party in one piece.
"But unfortunately, that's not the way it's gone."
Mr Butler and his colleagues began a push to change members of the party executive, moving key allies to Mr Borsak out of the executive, including his son.
"From a perception perspective, it looked very much like there were people who were on there who would tend to align themselves with Rob," Mr Butler said Monday.
Their attempts to reform the top ranks of the party were unsuccessful.
Comment is being sought from the party.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News