IN SHORT

• Narrandera agribusiness veteran David Farley has won One Nation preselection for the federal seat of Farrer, defeating Leigh Wolki and Guy Cooper at a vote in Albury this morning before being announced at a rally this afternoon.
• Farley, 69, is a former cotton and cattle industry CEO with decades of experience across the Riverina and Murray-Darling Basin, and has been a prominent critic of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan as chair of Speak Up 4 Water.
• The Farrer by-election is scheduled for 9 May 2026, triggered by former Liberal leader Sussan Ley's resignation after 25 years representing the seat.

A Narrandera agribusiness veteran has become One Nation's candidate for the federal seat of Farrer, winning a preselection contest in Albury this morning before being formally introduced to supporters at a rally this afternoon.

David Farley, 69, defeated fellow contenders Leigh Wolki of Albury and Guy Cooper of Boeill Creek to claim the candidacy, emerging from a field that originally attracted more than 80 applicants. Only three made it through One Nation's vetting process, and this morning local party members cast their votes at the Albury Convention Centre before the winner was unveiled to the public.

The by-election for Farrer is scheduled for 9 May 2026. It was triggered when former Liberal leader Sussan Ley resigned from parliament in late February following her defeat in a Liberal leadership spill by Angus Taylor. Ley had held Farrer for 25 years, but the seat is now considered genuinely contested for the first time in its history.

Farley is no stranger to the region or to big decisions. He was born and raised in Narrandera, the grandson of a First World War Light Horseman and the son of a Second World War naval veteran who went on to work in agribusiness. Those roots run deep, and so does his professional track record.

He started out as a jackaroo with FS Falkiner and Sons in Deniliquin back in 1975, working his way up through roles as overseer, station manager and irrigation development specialist. By 1982 he had been appointed to lead the development of a major irrigation enterprise in northern New South Wales. Over the following two decades he built Colly Cotton from 160 hectares to more than 27,000 irrigated hectares, eventually serving as Managing Director for 16 years as the company grew into one of the top ten cotton trading operations in the world. He later served as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Agricultural Company, one of the country's largest cattle enterprises, and has worked across the United States, Africa and the former Soviet Union in agribusiness roles. He owns Matrix Commodities, an agricultural commodity trading and investment company based in Narrandera.

More recently, Farley has been a prominent voice on water policy, having been elected chair of Speak Up 4 Water, an advocacy group pushing back against aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. He has long argued that the plan has hurt regional communities, stripped away agricultural jobs and handed too much power to city-based bureaucrats and foreign-owned corporations over water that regional families depend on.

Farley joined One Nation roughly six months ago, well before Ley announced her resignation, and he has been direct about why. He said it was Ley's own governance of Farrer, particularly her failure to push back on water policy, that pushed him toward a party he felt had the courage to take on the fight.

"There are many issues affecting Farrer that are also national issues," he said. "We need to be represented by a party with courage and tenacity, which I don't believe has been demonstrated by the Coalition."

The Farrer by-election field is shaping up to be one of the most competitive the electorate has ever seen. The Liberal Party and the Nationals are both contesting the seat, as are the Greens, the People's Future Party and the Freedom and Fairness Party, whose candidate is Rebecca Scriven. Independent Michelle Milthorpe, who actually outpolled Ley in Albury at the 2025 federal election and is backed by Climate 200, is considered one of the stronger challengers. Milthorpe has already been actively campaigning across the electorate.

One Nation has been polling strongly nationally in recent months, and the party clearly views Farrer as a genuine opportunity. For Farley, the 9 May poll represents the chance to convert decades of fighting for the Riverina and Murray-Darling communities from the outside into representation from within the walls of parliament.