| Deputy Premier Troy Grant said to have told colleagues hed resign as Nationals leader if he loses Orange by-election EXCLUSIVE Andrew Clennell, The Daily Telegraph
September 20, 2016 Orange by-election: Nationals struggle to seat as greyhound ban bites
Greyhound ban: 19,000 dogs need rehoming, leaked report reveals
DEPUTY Premier Troy Grant is said to have told colleagues that he will consider resigning if the party is rolled at the Orange by-election on November 12. Senior National Party sources say Mr Grant is thinking of pulling the pin as Nationals leader should the seat be lost via a 21.6 per cent swing, as is feared in the wake of the greyhound racing ban and the Orange Hospital chemotherapy scandal. One source said Mr Grant had said: If we lost Orange, thered be pressure for me to resign and Id have to think about that. Deputy Premier Grant has denied making such statements. Picture: Christopher Pearce/Getty Images
Mr Grant yesterday denied making such a statement. Talk around replacing Mr Grant as Deputy Premier in such a scenario is around Mr Grants close friend, Eden-Monaro MP John Barilaro; Local Government Minister Paul Toole and even the possibility of Niall Blair serving as Nationals leader from the upper house. One senior government source speculated yesterday that there may be some deal whereby Mr Barilaro would become leader after an Orange by-election loss, which Mr Grant would be happy with, as long as he remained a senior minister. Today, Health Minister Jillian Skinner will release the long-awaited report into the underdosing of chemotherapy at Orange Hospital while Dr John Grygiel is there. NSW Health Minister, Jillian Skinner will release the report on underdosing of chemo at Orange Hospital today. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
It is expected to show how many patients were affected by the practice and how many who were underdosed died. At St Vincents Hospital, where Dr Grygiel practised, 78 patients were found to have been given off protocol low drug doses when an inquiry into that hospital was tabled by the government in August. The scandal uncovered allegations of another underdosing doctor at St George Hospital. The Shooters and Fishers party, who polled well federally in the Orange area and is working hard to win the state seat of Orange in its own right has decided to recommend preferencing Labor ahead of the Nationals in the seat, in another major blow to the government. We want to see the National Party given a bloody nose in Orange, Shooters MP Robert Borsak said. They dont deserve to be re-elected based on what they have done with the greyhound industry and a number of other things in regional NSW. Roger Borsak has made his thoughts clear that he does not want to see the National Party re-elected. Picture: Adam Ward
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party appointed Kent Johns as its acting state president yesterday. Mr Johns, a Sutherland Shire councillor, is a close associate of Liberal powerbroker Michael Photios. He replaces Trent Zimmerman, who resigned after being elected to federal parliament. In a statement, the Liberal Party said: Consistent with the Partys Constitution, he [Mr Johns] will serve as Acting State President until the vacancy is filled by State Council. This would occur as soon as practicable.
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