ANDREW Gee’s transition from the state member for Orange to the federal candidate for Calare has not been smooth, with reports of a suspicious powder found on his office premises and a fake Facebook account set up in his name.
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Fire and Rescue NSW’s hazardous materials team was called to Mr Gee’s office at about 5pm on Monday.
They found a plastic bottle containing a powder-like substance in the backyard of the property and handed it over to Canobolas police for analysis.
The substance has not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, a fake Facebook post allegedly from Mr Gee, commenting on parking shortages at Orange Health Service, has been taken off social media.
Mr Gee’s office refused to comment on the contents of the post other than to say it was not genuine and Facebook had been contacted to remove the post.
In the post, the person alleging to be Mr Gee claimed NSW Health would not co-fund any additional car spaces with Orange City Council as it did not own the facilities and leased them back from the Spotless organisation.
When the hospital first opened, NSW Health entered into a lease with Spotless as part of a public/private partnership to build the hospital and upgrade additional buildings at Bloomfield to be used for administration.
The Facebook poster also claimed NSW Health would be in breach of existing contracts if it entered into a partnership with Orange City Council to build additional car spaces and referred readers to the document on the NSW Treasury website referring to the contract for Orange hospital.
Mr Gee announced his resignation from the NSW Parliament earlier in the week and a byelection is yet to be called - the date for The Nationals’ preselection is likely to be announced at the end of the week.
