In numerous interviews Toole seemed to share that outrage,saying he had made contact with Franklin last week after hearing rumours Labor had sounded him out for the role. In an interview with Sydney radio station 2GB he called the news “distressing” and said it “could be seen as disloyalty”.
“That’s when I heard of that,and I reached out to him to tell him that my view and the party’s view was that he would not take the position,” Toole said in the interview.
But in his first comments since the saga became public,Franklin has insisted the party leader was warned about the potential deal weeks earlier and had expressed support for it. A second party source said they had also spoken to Toole about the deal before last week and that he had not expressed opposition to it.
In response to detailed questions,Toole did not deny Franklin’s version of events,saying “the Nationals party room and Coalition[last week] resolved that no member of the opposition should be candidates for the presiding officer positions”.
Franklin’s version of events differ substantially from Toole’s public comments last week,and are likely to place his leadership of the Nationals under significant strain barelya month after seeing off an internal challenge by former agriculture minister Dugald Saunders by one vote.
‘I thought the leader of the party was happy with it,and I was acting under that assumption.’
Nationals MP Ben Franklin
Franklin said he first told Toole of the possibility he could take up the president’s job on April 19,and that the two men had numerous conversations in which Toole expressed support for Franklin taking the job.
“I told him,look,I think this is potentially going to be a thing and I may well have the support,what do you reckon? He said,‘I think it’s a great idea’,and he had been supporting me doing it for days,right up until the middle of last week,” Franklin told theHerald.
While Toole “wasn’t a definitive yes” after the first conversation,the two spoke on numerous occasions and Toole “firmed up” on the idea because of the benefits the position could bring to the party.
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“He had numerous conversations with me ... as we kept talking,he firmed up and said this will be great mate,” Franklin said.
That changed during the middle of last week,Franklin said,when rumours of the job offer became public and a section of the Nationals party room began publicly accusing Franklin of “treachery”.
Franklin accused Toole of “going to water” after the backlash,and orchestrating what he called a “charade” phone-call.
“We get to last week,and he rings me,and he’s says,‘Look,buddy I’m going to have to say that I’ve asked you not to do it’,” Franklin said.
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“He rings back a few hours later,this was Tuesday afternoon,and we go through this charade where he says,‘I’m ringing to tell you it’s unacceptable’,just so he could say he’d spoken to me.
“He clearly went to water but without actually telling me[his position had changed] or talking to me about it and saying,‘Hey,listen actually this is not going to work’.”
Franklin is yet to decide whether he will nominate for the role and is likely to announce his intentions on Monday before a vote on Tuesday.
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