This morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison cancelled a Sydney press conference after it was gatecrashed by independent Kerryn Phelps.
The independent candidate for the highly contested seat of Wentworth showed up at a cafĆ© where the Prime Minister and Wenworthās Liberal candidate Dace Sharma were set to address reporters before the vote on October 20.
Reporters told Dr Phelps that they were āexpecting the Prime Ministerā and that āwe didnāt realise you were popping inā.
Dr Phelps was recently criticised by Liberals after hiring Darrin Barnett, a Labor campaigner, to assist with her election campaign.
Dr Phleps told voters on Sunday to āPut the Liberals lastā but revealed that she had changed her mind during todayās gatecrashing, saying that she would preference the Liberals before Labor.
She said that if she had any intentions to support Labor she āwould have stood for pre-selectionā.
While Dr Phelps spoke to reporters, Mr Sharma stood awkwardly inside the cafe, and then promptly left. Scott Morrison never showed up.
The seat is held by the Liberals on a 17.7% margin; however, the Government is predicted to face a severe backlash at the voting booth.
Primarily, analysts believe Australian voters are disillusioned with the Liberal/National Coalition Government after last monthās leadership crisis where Malcolm Turnbull was replaced by Scott Morrison as Prime Minister.
Malcolm Turnbullās ousting and subsequent resignation from Parliament triggered the Wentworth by-election.