Malcolm Turnbull reserves right to back more independent candidates in elections

Former Liberal leader and PM defends decision to support independent rather than National in NSW upper Hunter byelection

Malcolm Turnbull is not ruling in or out supporting more independent candidates in forthcoming election contests, noting he has resigned from politics but I haven't resigned as an Australian citizen".

With a New South Wales state byelection looming in the upper Hunter, Turnbull has urged voters to support independent candidate Kirsty O'Connell - who has been upfront about the inexorable decline of the coal industry as a consequence of climate change - rather than a National party candidate.