David Farley Sought Voices of Farrer Talks in 2024

Documents seen by Guardian Australia show david farley, One Nation’s Farrer candidate, sought to work with Voices of Farrer before the last election. In February 2024, he texted and emailed a coordinator about a Farrer platform and the management of preferences before the group later endorsed Michelle Milthorpe.

February 2024 Messages

Farley texted: "Would like to share some thoughts on a ‘Farrer platform’ for a campaign for both NSW federal Senate and the seat of Farrer." In a separate email that month, he wrote: "Would welcome discussion when we meet Tuesday on the proposed management of preferences, whose and how to secure them."

He also wrote: "Sussan Ley with the position of deputy leader of the Liberal party and two-decade incumbent for Farrer will not go without a serious fight, that will be fought with a well-funded purse [sic]." He added: "Next federal election must be on or before 27th September 2025 ~ 19 month away or earlier, time is of the essence as D day isn’t clearly transparent [sic]."

September 2023 Ticket

Records from a ticketing site show Farley reserved a ticket to a Voices of Farrer event called Gathering In Griffith in September 2023 and added a small donation. He later wrote that he had booked conflicting meetings and would not be able to attend, then said he would "welcome meeting the team at Voices For Farrer in the near future".

Voices of Farrer Endorsement

Voices of Farrer later endorsed Michelle Milthorpe in 2024. Milthorpe lost to Sussan Ley, who retained Farrer on a 56-44 margin after Ley had won the seat on a 66-34 two-party margin at the 2022 election.

The sequence matters because Farley was seeking contact with an independent campaign structure before it backed his rival. The Farrer contest was also shaped by the resignation of Ley, and a Nine newspapers report said Farley later endorsed Milthorpe’s 2025 effort to unseat her, calling her a "straight shooter, good woman" in a Facebook post.