A proposal to redraw the boundaries of the Cootamundra electorate before the next State elections in 2022 has drawn a claim of "rigging the rules" from a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
The National Party has suggested Cootamundra be re-drawn to remove the shires of Bland, Leeton and Narrandera and replace them with Boorowa and Yass Valley, currently in the Goulburn electorate.
The alterations are part of a big-picture plan by the Nationals which would see the abolition of the seat of Murray, to Cootamundra's west.
Murray was taken from the Nationals by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Helen Dalton in the March 2019 election.
Ms Dalton said it seemed to her the Nationals were "too scared" to take her on at the next election.
"The Nationals don't want to take me on fair and square at the ballot box", Ms Dalton said, "so they are lobbying the Electoral Commission to abolish my seat.
"Their official reason is to give people in remote parts of the state better access to their local member.
"But why didn't they care about that during the 35 years they held the seat?
"It's only an issue after I won it from them in 2019."
In its suggestions to the Electoral Commission, the Nationals proposed a new electorate of Murray-Darling be created to replace the abolished seat of Murray.
The new seat, it argued, would ensure "to the maximum possible extent" that residents in the most remote parts of the state would have reasonable access to their MP.
Further, it suggested that aligning the seat to the Murray and Darling Rivers would enable proper attention to be given to the "predominant issues" of access to drinking water and environmental water matters.
"Further, the localities of Menindee and Broken Hill are currently at odds with northern irrigators as they feel they keep all the water for themselves.
"In addition, the irrigators in the locality of Deniliquin are currently at loggerheads with counterparts in the north of the state who feel they get preferential treatment."
Ms Dalton, who owns a family mixed farm at Binya, near Griffith, Dalton won the seat of Murray in 2019 by a 26.2% swing, breaking 35 years of National Party incumbency.
Murray is the second largest electorate in NSW, covering 107,362sq km. It encompasses the local government areas of Balranald, Berrigan, Carrathool, Edward River, Griffith, Hay, Leeton, Murrumbidgee, Murray River and Wentworth.
In 2019, Murray had 55,784 registered voters.
Cootamundra, with an area of 34,711.35sq km, had 53,474 voters.
