National Party leader Matt Canavan snipes at One Nation during visit to Tatura

“If you can’t get along in a group of six, how can you get along in a group of 60?” Mr Canavan said.

Mr Canavan wouldn’t give a direct answer when asked if Mr Farley would be welcome in the Nationals but was critical of a potential party switch.

“I don’t want to see people leave parties they were elected to represent,” he said.

“He’s obviously not happy in One Nation.”

When asked about One Nation encroaching on issues historically considered the territory of the National Party, Mr Canavan said he was not worried about an identity crisis for his party.

“We knew Farrer was a long shot but we did all right, all the eyes of the nation were on us,” Mr Canavan said.

Around 50 people gathered for the ‘pollies in the pub’ event to meet Mr Canavan and speak with him about a range of issues, from water policy to regional education.

Mr Canavan described net zero as a “green handcuff” and confirmed that the National Party would not support a tax on extracting raw materials such as gas and iron ore.

On water policy, he said: “No more water for the environment, it’s had its fill.”

When Mr Canavan addressed the crowd, he spoke about winning seats off Labor and did not mention the electoral threat from One Nation.

On data centres, Mr Canavan said “there needs to be some proper regulation about this”.

He criticised Labor for being slow to act on artificial intelligence regulation but confirmed he would support passing good laws.

Mr Canavan affirmed his support for Liberal leader Angus Taylor.

“I think he’s going to make a great prime minister,” he said.

Nationals preselection hopefuls Alexander Lew and Shane Sali both attended the event ahead of the vote for the Shepparton candidate on Saturday, September 5.