Matt Canavan eyes frontbench role amid One Nation speculation
“I think he owes it to himself, he owes it to his legacy, he owes it to the people of the region who put him here, and he owes it to the party that gave him the privilege of making him deputy prime minister not once, but three times, as he reminded me,” McCormack said.
“A maverick? Of course he is… but he’s got country people at heart. And I hate to think that in 20 years when someone looks at the wall in front of the national party hall, they’ll see just one person who has abandoned the party that gave them the honor of being leader. I don’t want him to be that person.”
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson talk over a dinner of pasta, salad and steak in Hanson’s office on Monday night.
McCormack urged Joyce to spend the summer considering his political future in the Nationals and praised him for playing “a huge, leading role in a policy outcome like scrapping net zero.”
“What also upsets me is that her and Matt Canavan’s relationship has been tested in the last 24 to 48 hours, you know, it’s like they’re like brothers, they really are. And you don’t like to see that.”
Canavan challenged Littleproud for the leadership after the election, pressuring the party leader to meet the 2050 emissions target. He is also one of the Coalition’s leading populist right-wing voices, reaching out to the same segment of the electorate targeted by the emerging One Nation party that Joyce may lead in the future.
Canavan’s lines of attack against Hanson and Joyce this week show a newfound appetite to target One Nation from the Coalition, which has spent years fighting teal independents who win inner-city votes.
Barnaby Joyce has entered into a feud with Nationals leader David Littleproud.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Where are you [Hanson’s] Is he working on the board?” Canavan emphasized that he still respects the One Nation leader.
“Can Pauline point to a dam, a road, a bridge, a hospital? A change in the law that would help small businesses or farmers? I can’t think of anything. It’s been around for thirty years.”
Canavan said Hanson’s burqa display, which he described as offensive to Muslims, detracted from parliament’s ability to hold Labor to account on energy policy.
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Rather than lamenting spilled milk, Canavan argued that his party should strengthen to fill the void left by Joyce, a polarizing but charismatic artist who for many years led conservative debates on climate change, telecommunications and regional identity.
“I won’t lose any sleep over Barnaby leaving. Be the warrior who goes into battle and scalps,” said Canavan, whose colleagues still believe he wants to lead Nationals one day.
“We all have to raise our game. I’ve always been outspoken about this: Barnaby would be a huge loss for us. Now the next man, the next woman, we have great people in our party.”
One MP, who asked to remain anonymous so he could discuss internal debates freely, said Joyce did not attend the National Party’s Christmas party in parliament on Tuesday.
“We’ve all left Barnaby, leaving about three people in the party room who care whether he stays or not. We’ve got net zero and David sorted out. [Littleproud] “There is support from the party room,” the MP said.
Joyce’s foe Littleproud, who kicked the former leader out of the shadow cabinet after the election, said Joyce wanted time and space and “we gave him that to work where he wants to be”.
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