At a NSW Farm Writers in Sydney on Thursday, Mr McCormack was asked by reporters about former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer comments that there should have been a Nationals candidate for the September byelection.

Mr McCormack, the current Deputy Prime Minister, responded by saying “I would have liked to have run a candidate”.

“I understand why we didn’t, but I would have liked to have run a candidate,” Mr McCormack said.

“I think we would have stood a good show.

“The fact is Julia Ham is the Liberal candidate, the fact is despite what has happened, despite the former Liberal member giving up the seat in the circumstances in which he did, the fact is the Coalition and the Liberal party has held that seat since 1957.”

The byelection was triggered by Wagga MP Daryl Maguire resigning this month from parliament after three weeks of pressure over damaging revelations at an anti-corruption hearing.

Mr McCormack said the Liberal party had delivered a new hospital and new police and fire stations in the time they had held the seat of Wagga Wagga,

“Wagga Wagga has done very well out of a very good and sound Liberal Nationals government in NSW and to continue that representation, I will urge voters to vote one Julia Ham on Saturday week.”

Mr McCormack was sitting directly opposite NSW Nationals leader and deputy premier John Barilaro at the time he made the comments.

Mr Barilaro met with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in July to work out a deal for which Coalition party would run in the byelection.

The Nationals were suspected to have run phone polling at the time on former Riverina MP Kay Hull as a potential candidate to show the party had the best chance of defeating Labor or popular independents.

Ms Berejiklian subsequently announced that the Liberals would be the sole Coalition party to run in Wagga.

Some Wagga Nationals members were angry at the decision while others pointed to optional preferential voting as having the potential of splitting conservative voters in half.

“I made the decision that we wouldn’t run and why,” Mr Barilaro said on Thursday at the NSW Farm Writers event.

“I think the last 10 days have shown that disunity destroys governments.”

Mr Barilaro said it was a “easy decision” to focus on the drought and “the issues that matter” rather than a three-cornered contest in Wagga.

Mr Barilaro also denied that a leadership spill against former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which produced nearly the worst poll results for the Coalition in 20 years, would advantage Labor in Wagga.

“What was played out in the Liberal Party, the disunity, the tearing down of another prime minister, the infighting the navel gazing that we’re now seeing for 10 years in this country – so, a lack of leadership – actually doesn’t play well for any politician,” Mr Barilaro said.

“Even if it was the Nats running today, that would still impact on the outcome.

“The people of Wagga will make a decision on the issues that are local.”

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