MEMBER for Bathurst Paul Toole has made his first public comments since being ousted as the leader of the NSW Nationals. Posts were made to Mr Toole's Facebook and Instagram accounts just after midday on Tuesday, May 9. The posts featured a video of Mr Toole being sworn in to the 58th NSW Parliament earlier in the day. His three-line caption didn't directly address his leadership loss, however, it did say he was "looking forward to getting on with the job". "The 58th Parliament of NSW is officially open," the caption read. "It was an honour once again to be sworn in as Member for Bathurst. "Looking forward to getting on with the job representing the people of my electorate." READ MORE: NSW Nationals member Irene Hancock says Paul Toole should still be leader Mr Toole was dumped as the NSW Nationals leader on Monday, May 8 after 18 months in the role. He has been replaced by Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders, who won a leadership vote in a party room meeting on Monday afternoon. It all spurred from accusations that Mr Toole lied to the party over a plum parliamentary job for Nationals MP Ben Franklin. Mr Franklin has said Mr Toole knew about his intention to nominate for president of the upper house and had supported the move. However, this is contrary to Mr Toole's own comments about this situation, telling metropolitan media last week that Mr Franklin "should not be accepting the position of president of the upper house". The Western Advocate has contacted Mr Toole for comment. Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
