A candidate has already emerged in Hollie Hughes, a Cudal mother of two with strong links to the Liberal Party at a state and federal level.

Ms Hughes is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia’s powerful NSW division state executive and has served as an advisor to federal senators Bill Heffernan and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

She holds a bachelor of arts (communications) from Charles Sturt University in Bathurst and a masters of politics and public policy from Macquarie University.

“At this stage I will not be making any comment about my potential candidacy or not because of the party process and protocols,” Ms Hughes said when contacted yesterday.

The Coalition agreement between the NSW Nationals and Liberal Party opens the door for either party to contest a seat where the sitting member retires.

High level discussions will be held between the two parties this week.

It’s believed the Liberal Party will fight the NSW Nationals for the right to field the opposition’s candidate in Orange at the next state poll in March 2011.

Standing a Liberal Party candidate would be a “crazy” move, Mr Turner said yesterday.

The NSW Nationals have held the seat for over 60 years.

“None of this is coming from the leader of the Liberal Party Barry O’Farrell, it’s just a few minor party officials fluffing their feathers,” Mr Turner said.

“If there is any sign of disunity between the parties, we could see the results of previous two elections replicated where the voters did not believe we were ready to govern because we couldn’t even govern ourselves.

“There are some Liberals who would like to see the demise of the Nats altogether but they’ve got to remember our one aim is to get into government and get rid of Labor.”

NSW Nationals chairperson Christine Ferguson is confident her party would contest the seat.

“I would suggest our argument will be a great deal stronger than the Liberal Party’s because we’ve held onto the seat of Orange for 60 years,” she said.

“You could probably describe that as our threat and we will be making sure the NSW Nationals contest the seat.”

If the NSW Nationals are successful, the pre-selection process to find a candidate would be held in April and early May.

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