Joyce ditches Nationals, coy on One Nation defection
Barnaby Joyce is giving up on the Nationals but has yet to confirm whether he will join small right-wing party One Nation following widespread speculation about his future.
The two-time deputy prime minister and leader of the countryside party announced the move in parliament on Thursday after previously saying he would not re-contest his seat in New England, citing an irreparable breakdown in his relationship with leader David Littleproud.
“After 30 years in the National Party, I am resigning from the party and it truly saddens me,” he told the lower house in a 90-second statement.
Mr Joyce said after three decades in the National Party he needed to find a more effective way to advocate for Australians in the region.
However, he later told reporters that he had not yet decided whether to join One Nation.
Mr Joyce has not sat in the National Party hall since announcing in October that he would not seek re-election in the 2028 election.
But there is speculation he could run for the Senate on the One Nation candidacy and remain in parliament as the minor party has surged in the polls in recent months.
He said his views were in line with One Nation’s policy priorities, including opposing a net-zero emissions target that has since been abandoned by the coalition.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson sparked controversy by wearing a burqa in the Senate on Monday as she tried to push through a private member’s bill banning the religious garment.
Her demonstrations and comments about the burqa were widely condemned and she was subsequently censored and banned from parliament for seven sitting days.
Hours later, Senator Hanson hosted Mr. Joyce for dinner in his office; Photos later circulated of the fiery senator cooking a steak in a sandwich press.
Mr Joyce’s National Party colleagues worked for weeks to persuade their former leader to stay in the party.
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