The Farrer by-election is set for May 9, and two more candidates have been confirmed: Brad Robertson for the Nationals and David Farley for One Nation.

One Nation shocked the polls this week with a clear majority at 28.7 per cent according to the AusPoll, closely followed by independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe on 23.3 per cent.

At the One Nation candidate selection meeting in Albury, 600 people gathered to hear from three prospective candidates, with agribusinessman Farley winning the branch vote.

“Our forefathers were smart, not only did they have a vision about where Australia was going, but they had the sense to know what we needed,” said Farley, addressing the crowd.

“They had vision, they had conviction and more importantly, they were patriotic Australians.”

“When I look at the decision I’ve made, why I’m here today, and what’s required, is something we haven’t had for a long time. It’s courage.”

“One thing that the One Nation Party’s got is stacks of courage and tenacity. Tenacity is pretty simple; it’s not the dog in the fight; it’s the fight in the dog.”

Farley, the grandson of a returned WWI Light Horseman and the son of a returned WWII naval seaman turned agribusiness man, was born and raised in Narrandera.

Farley began as a jackeroo with FS Falkiner & Sons in Deniliquin before progressing through overseer, station manager and irrigation development roles. In 1982 he was appointed to help lead the development of a major irrigation enterprise in northern NSW. Over two decades he expanded Colly Cotton from 160 hectares to 27,600 irrigated hectares, building ginning, warehousing and export capacity that strengthened regional jobs, exports, and community prosperity.

He was later recruited to lead the financial recovery of Calcot California, a major cotton marketing cooperative operating across California, Arizona and Southwest Texas. Returning to Australia, David served as Managing Director and CEO of the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo), stewarding 12 million hectares and more than half a million head of cattle through drought, live export disruption, native title negotiations, and shareholder change.

In a global professional career across Australia, the United States, Africa and the former Soviet Union, Farley said that his ability to lead through crisis, rebuild balance sheets and protect regional employment and exports will be vital to returning Farrer’s prosperity.

He believes Australia’s sovereign strength begins in regional communities, with disciplined water and land policy aligned to national security, planned immigration settings, investment in regional hospitals and schools, secure career opportunities for young families, and state-of-the-art telecommunications and infrastructure.

The National’s candidate, Brad Robertson, had a 30-year military career and has immersed himself in the community since leaving the military.

“My focus is always my community, my defence community from when I was in the military, but now this community, the community of Farrer,”

“I can provide real representation and I can be someone who really listens,”

“If I don’t know the answers, I’ll go find the answers. I tend to engage broadly with people, with different people, to understand the issues.”

Roberston grew up in Bathurst along with his parents and five siblings.

“My father was running a small business, as well as the farm, as a lot of people do, and it got pretty tough in the late 80s and early 90s, so we moved across to the coast.”

After school, Robertson joined the army, deploying multiple times and serving overseas in India and Saudi Arabia. When Robertson’s wife became ill he decided it was time for a change.

“It really gave me a bit of a reflection time. My wife had been with me since the second year I was in the army, had moved with me for a very long time, we sort of said, well, probably enough moving and enough of this army stuff.”

After leaving the army, Robertson immersed himself in the community and took on non-profit board roles focused on veteran homelessness and the Cancer Trust in Albury Wodonga.

When I asked Robertson the key issues he had identified, they were the cost of living, housing affordability, health services, and water.

When I probed if the National’s would support a Royal Commission, Robertson said it was something being talked about and that we also need to consider if the Basin Plan was fit for purpose at all.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 12 March 2026.