Barnaby Joyce was ambushed by The Project's Hamish Macdonald outside Armidale's early voting centre on Monday.
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Mr Joyce was an hour and a half late to hand out how to vote cards at the first pre-poll centre to open in New England and was talking to The Armidale Express, when the Channel 10 program arrived.
It was about so called "watergate", totally unexpected and at times it seemed somewhat animated to onlookers.
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Mr Joyce has consistently denied any wrong-doing following a controversial $78.9 million water buyback that was signed off on when he was the Minister for Water.
Mr Joyce said he was ambushed.
"That's the media. They want a yarn that is not a yarn," Mr Joyce said.
"Basically it's a rehashing of the water issue, and as I said, I did not negotiate the vendor, I did not negotiate the price and on precedent, Tony Burke had bought water off these people before.
There is no comparison whatsoever between this sale and the previous sales ...
- Yvonne Langenberg
"Now they've come back and said I had an involvement with this owner. I don't. Where they're confused is, I knew the previous owners."
Mr Joyce said a proper and due diligence process was followed.
"No-one is saying for one second there is anything illegal. It is the nature of campaigns. Last time it was the Mediscare, this time it is going to be whatever they can make out of this," he said.
The Express contacted some of the other New England candidates to get their thoughts on the topic.
Labor candidate Yvonne Langenberg thought the whole issue lacked transparency and smelled as fishy as the Darling River.
"I've read it's actually ghost water because it doesn't really exist," she said.
"It was not an open tender. And unfortunately I didn't actually get any clarity out of that interview on RN with Patricia Karvelas, although I did hear Labor mentioned quite often, but not what exactly happened.
There are very valid questions around what value for money taxpayers have gotten from $80 million purchasing water ...
- Adam Blakester
"There is no comparison whatsoever between this sale and the previous sales, and I really don't know what Barnaby Joyce was on about by drawing Labor into this."
Independent Adam Blakester thought the paper trail needed to back up what was being said.
"There are contradictions in their stories about not having an involvement and relying on the advice of the department and the Queensland government that have been refuted by the relevant State Minister in Queensland," Mr Blakester said.
"There are very valid questions around what value for money taxpayers have gotten from $80 million purchasing water that is nicknamed ghost-water because we might never see a drop of it.
We don't need a Royal Commission we just need to get to the bottom of it.
- Rob Taber
"I think one of the problems we have with MP Joyce is that he is not making himself available ... and if he's not making himself available then people are going to chase him down."
Independent candidate Rob Taber said candidates should be given some warning about impending interviews.
"There is no doubt this has got to be properly investigated," Mr Taber said.
"We don't need a Royal Commission we just need to get to the bottom of it. Get the documents and examine the whole thing in a proper manner.
"I have been following this for a long time and we've had all plans and schemes. I think there has to be questions asked about why some of the rules that are in place haven't been obeyed."