PAUL Toole has broken his silence after losing his position as leader of the NSW Nationals, insisting he acted with integrity during his 18-month stint in the party's top job.
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The long-time Member for Bathurst was booted from leadership by his colleagues on Monday, May 8 after accusations that he lied to the party over a plum parliamentary job for Nationals MP Ben Franklin.
Mr Franklin has been considering nominating for president of the upper house - a move that, if successful, would give Labor an effective majority - and this week claimed he had told Mr Toole of his intentions and had his support.
This is contrary to Mr Toole's own comments about this situation, telling metropolitan media last week that Mr Franklin "should not be accepting the position of president of the upper house".
While not revealing the details of any discussions with Mr Franklin or others in the party, Mr Toole told the Western Advocate he acted with integrity as the Nationals leader.
"I'm not going to get into private conversations - that's not my style," he said.
"As leader, I acted with integrity and in the interests of the party.
"When you are dealing positions and shadow portfolios, tough decisions have to be made at times that are not going to please everyone."
He has accepted his colleagues' decision regarding his leadership and went on to thank those who continued to support him.
"The party room has made its decision and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time as the leader. I accept that in politics there is always people who are ambitious," Mr Toole said.
"I thank those people who were loyal and continued to support me and I will remember that support and friendship."
Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders has replaced Mr Toole as the NSW Nationals leader, although it wasn't a unanimous decision, with a 10-5 split in the party room vote.
On Tuesday, Mr Saunders said that he would "start getting on with the job" after the situation that unfolded this week, one that he called "a difficult time" for the party.
"I'm not here for the wrong reasons, I'm here to represent regional NSW. That's my commitment to my electorate of Dubbo and it's also my commitment as leader of the NSW Nationals," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Toole has reassured his own electorate the he is "not going anywhere".
They'll be familiar words to some, as it was the same promise he made after being returned as the Member for Bathurst in March, 2023 while the Coalition lost the state election to the NSW Labor Party.
He said he will remain focused on the issues affecting people's everyday lives.
"I'm not going anywhere," Mr Toole said.
"I will be a constant pain in the ass [sic] to the Labor government and continue to focus on the things that matter to people's everyday lives. That's what a good opposition has to do and needs to focus on.
"I'm pleased to be the shadow minister for police (having been the previous minister), but my main focus as always is to represent my community, the families and the businesses that need an effective opposition right now.
"I will continue to work each and every day to make this electorate a great place to live."
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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.
