Michael McCormack was due to be in Tamworth on Friday, however New England MP Barnaby Joyce said there had been a "change of plan".

"He needs to be in marginal seats - that's not me being egotistical, but you've got places like Cowper that is a fifty-fifty seat," Mr Joyce said.

"I know how to campaign, that's why I'm happy for Michael to be somewhere else.

"I know New England and I know where I need to be. And to be frank, I prefer to do it by myself, talking to people without a camera in my face or a reporter behind me.

"You can actually sit down at the kitchen table with people and say, 'what are the issues, how can I do a better job, what's worked'."

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Mr Joyce said the election campaign would begin to pick up, with school holiday's finishing up. There are a number of meet the candidate debates coming up, however Mr Joyce is yet to decide which ones he will do.

"I'll definitely do one in Tamworth," he said.

"I can't do all of them. If I go to every one I'm invited to, nothing else gets done."

Mr Joyce has been dogged by the 'Watergate' scandal, which calls in to question a deal he signed off in 2017 as Water Minister, where $80m of water was bought off a company registered in the Cayman Islands, from a company founded by Energy Minister Angus Taylor.

"The allegations are completely factually incorrect," he said.

"The first people to buy water of them was Labor. I don't think the Labor Party is keen to open that can of worms, because there have a lot more questions to answer."

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