State Member for Barwon, Roy Butler MP, today (Monday 12 December 2022) announced he was resigning from the NSW Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party and will run as an independent in the March 2023 state election.

The decision arose following a dispute within the party between leader Robert Borsak and fellow MPs Mr Butler and colleague Phillip Donato.

The pair say that "the final straw" came in September when Mr Borsak made a disturbing comment towards former SFF colleague and member for Murray Helen Dalton, saying that “he (LC presiding President) should have got up and clocked her (Mrs Dalton).”

The comment was on top of a long list of grievances against Mr Borsak’s leadership style.

Mr Butler and Mr Donato privately met with the party leader to offer him the choice of either stepping down and making a dignified exit from politics or they would seek to deal with the issue by replacing him as leader at the party's annual general meeting (AGM).

"Both Phil and I are men of integrity. We could not let Robert’s remarks stand without some acknowledgement that he was wrong, nor could we allow him to continue to damage the electoral chances of the party. We tried to fix the problems within the party but unfortunately that has not been possible,” Mr Butler said.

The pair have also raised concerns about a "conflict of interest" in the makeup of the party's executive because it includes Mr Borsak's son and close friend.

At their AGM last Saturday, they attempted to change the executive, but failed, prompting Mr Butler and Mr Donato to make the difficult decision to exit the party.

“Mr Borsak has not only refused to step down, he has dug in his heels and made it impossible for us to speak out against him at the AGM in Singleton on Saturday. We said that our position had become untenable unless there was change, but there was no change.”

“The executive, which includes Robert’s son and two of his friends, chose to throw their support behind the leader, leaving us no option but to resign from the party, which is sad, I like the party and it had always been my intention to run with them at the next election.”

Phil Donato and Roy Butler say they are sorry to leave the Shooters Fishers & Farmers Party.

Mr Butler was elected in 2019 during the worst drought in the European history of Australia, and has worked hard for the hard-working people of the Barwon electorate.

During his time in parliament specific funding for the Barwon electorate has increased from $132 million, to over $907 million.

Mr Butler says that this was due to the good relationships he has established, but claims that those relationships were often endangered by Mr Borsak’s more abrasive style.

While Mr Butler is disappointed to leave the party, he says that he will still carry on serving the people of Barwon.

"I have always worked a bit like an independent in Parliament so not much will change in that respect," he said.

Member for Orange, Phil Donato also resigned from the Shooter's Fishers and Farmer's party, saying that he's "not prepared to work for a leader like that."

For the Shooter's Fisher's and Farmer's party, the future is now looking quite bleak.

Mr Donato is also expected to run as an Independent in the coming election.

"Following Helen Dalton's resignation and now Roy Butler and I, the party has essentially lost three lower house members in the space of two years, which is a sad indictment really," said Member for Orange, Phil Donato.

"I'm not prepared to keep working for a leader like that or for a party that supports a leader like that," he said.

Mr Borsak has indicated plans to run SFF candidates against both Mr Donato and Mr Butler in the election in March next year, to which the pair have told him to "go his hardest."