THEY might come from the same part of the state and share the same sort of popularity within their electorates, and at first glance they would appear to have a lot in common.
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But a lively exchange in State Parliament last week suggests there is no love lost between Bathurst MP Paul Toole and his Orange colleague, Phil Donato.
Perhaps it was just an extension of the ongoing rivalry between the Nationals and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party that has emerged to threaten the Nats' stranglehold on regional electorates - and the floor of the State Parliament is a famously hostile arena - but there seemed to be an extra sting in some of the banter between the pair last Thursday.
It all started when Mr Donato rose to ask Mr Toole, the Regional Roads and Transport Minister, whether the government had agreed to amend its procurement practices to make it easier for local councils and businesses that might be doing it tough in the drought to win rich government contracts instead of them going to interstate providers.
Mr Toole began his response by saying, "I thank The Shooter for his question ..." before Mr Donato immediately rose to call a point of order.
"My point of order relates to Standing Order 75 in terms of the use of correct titles," Mr Donato said, before adding his own sting: "I say to the minister: Mate, you are the wrong Toole for the job."
Speaker Jonathan O'Dea sought to come to Mr Toole's defence, issuing Mr Donato three calls to order for his zinger and warning him he was lucky not to have been ejected from the parliament, and also suggesting Mr Toole had only used "The Shooter" as short-hand for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
Mr Toole also continued to needle: "Members of the Liberals are happy if I call them the 'Libs'; members of the Nationals are happy if I call them the 'Nats'. Come on, be proud of your party, the Shooters," he said, convincing no-one.
It was all an entertaining diversion, contributing nothing to the running of the state.
The original question posed by Mr Donato also went largely unanswered beyond Mr Toole outlining a number of workshops designed to give local communities the chance to find out how they might benefit from local infrastructure projects.
But that's the way we do democracy in this state and country. It's not perfect, but it's the best system we've found so far.
