Star Liberal candidate Andrew Constance says he won't be a "wallflower" if elected to Federal Parliament as he refused to resile from his criticism of Scott Morrison during the Black Summer fires.
Then the state member for Bega and a NSW cabinet minister, Mr Constance shot to national prominence for saying Scott Morrison "probably got the welcome he deserved" after the Prime Minister was heckled by locals on his ill-fated visit to Cobargo in January 2020.
The two men were forced to confront the Black Summer blow-up on Monday as they campaigned together in Gilmore, the marginal seat on the NSW South Coast which Mr Constance is hoping to win from Labor's Fiona Phillips.
Asked directly if he stood by the remarks, Mr Constance said: "we can't reverse history".
Mr Constance signalled that he wouldn't hesitate in speaking out for his local community if elected to the Federal Parliament.
"I'm going to be fierce in my representation of the people of Gilmore. I'm not going to sit there as a wallflower - I'll call it how it is," Mr Constance said during a press conference at East Coast Canning in Culburra Beach.
"And I care about the community that I've lived in for most of my life. Our people deserve the best."
Mr Morrison didn't hold Mr Constance's comments against him, instead praising his Gilmore candidate's record of speaking up.
"I love it that he's on my team because he calls it and he calls it straight. And he did on that day," Mr Morrison said.
Following Mr Constance's attack, Mr Morrison said the pair met and devised a new package of support for small businesses.
Mr Morrison reiterated that he had already apologised for his handling of the Cobargo visit, which became one of the flashpoints of his prime ministership.
"As I moved through that community, it was in trauma. It was shell shocked," Mr Morrison said on Monday.
"There were those [negative] exchanges that day. But there are many other exchanges that day which were very different."
The Black Summer bushfires scorched large part of the NSW South Coast, meaning issues such as disaster recovery and climate change will be front of mind for voters in Gilmore.
A small group of protestors stood outside Monday's campaign pit stop, holding signs of Mr Morrison's in Hawaii-themed attire with the words "Doesn't hold a hose" - a reference to the Prime Minister's infamous family holiday during the 2019/20 fire season.
Labor affiliated Shoalhaven City councillor John Kotlash was among the group holding the signs, which are being sold by the union movement.
Mr Morrison opened his re-election campaign with a $40 million boost to local roads in the Gilmore.
The Prime Minister and his star candidate toured the canning business, which created a "Scomo's Strong Economy" beer label to mark the occasion.
Mr Morrison said boosting local manufacturing would keep people in the regions.
On his last stop in the seat of Gilmore, Scott Morrison stopped off at a drone manufacturing facility in South Nowra.
Air Affairs Australia is a defence industry organisation which manufactures and operate drone targeting systems used by the military.
The visit was to further emphasise the Coalition's core economic pledge of bolstering domestic manufacturing within the regions.
Gerard Cockburn
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
