Miss Quinn was sensationally preselected in June to contest the seat of Orange for the Nationals at next year's state election, but stood down just four months later.

"Personal reasons" was the official explanation for Miss Quinn's decision, but now Ms Quinn has spoken out for the first time to give her side of the story – in part, she says, to dispel rumours that her mental health had played a role.

She says a Sydney journalist told her that Nationals leader John Barilaro made it clear on the day of Ms Quinn's preselection that she would not be their candidate for long.

Mr Barilaro has refused to confirm or deny that conversation, but that hardly matters.

The fact is, Ms Quinn's version of events squares very neatly with speculation that had been swirling in political circles long before she stepped down as the Nationals' candidate.

In the lead-up to the October meeting that finally ended Miss Quinn's short political career, this newspaper had heard consistent rumours that she was to be dumped as the Nationals' candidate.

Those rumours were consistently denied but it is now obvious that they had merit.

So whether it was Mr Barilaro leading the campaign to dump Ms Quinn or other Nationals, the party's treatment of her has been a disgrace.

She has clearly been used as a pawn in a political game being played by dissatisfied members of the Orange Nationals.

It's clear now that her preselection was only ever intended to embarrass party leaders that blocked Tony Mileto's bid for preselection and she was never going to have the backing of the party all the way to the election in March.

Party members allowed her to take time out from her career to campaign for the Nationals but continued to hamstring any attempt she made to build a profile.

Politics might be a dirty game, but this whole affair has been far dirtier than anything the Orange voting public should be asked to tolerate.

Regardless of who is now preselected to run for the Nationals, Orange must be asking questions about the way Ms Quinn was treated by the party she pledged her allegiance to.