Barnaby Joyce urged by Nationals colleagues not to betray party
Joyce’s statement did not directly address the possibility of leaving, although he said it was “untenable” to continue sitting in the National Party hall in Canberra.
Parliament returns in the week from 27 October and Coalition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam argued the issue should be resolved before then. The flare-up follows weeks of controversy over the departure of Liberal MPs Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Andrew Hastie from the front bench.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Duniam echoed the view of former National Championship leader Michael McCormack, who said Joyce “would be wrong to throw the game”. [his] “Toys out of the cot” due to a personal dispute with Littleproud.
Duniam said on Sky: Sunday Agenda: “I certainly hope that he will not walk away from this as he reflects on his time in parliament, which – as mentioned earlier – has been made possible thanks to the support he has received from the National Party organisation.
“I think it would be one thing to move to One Nation while we can continue to serve in parliament. “I think it’s important to respect those who did that. [brought] You went to the dance, and in this case it was Nats.”
One Nation sources and sources close to Joyce said Saturday that the still-fluid plan is for Joyce to lead One Nation in the lower house until the election and one day lead the party from the Senate.
Hanson said he would welcome Joyce with open arms on Saturday. This imprint revealed in February that the couple had been in talks about hooking up last year.
Hanson said the National Party was at its lowest ebb as a party and One Nation had opened 50 branches across the country since the May election.
“People in Tamworth who were once the National party faithful have now come to One Nation because they are beating their heads against a brick wall because their MPs don’t represent them,” Hanson said.
McCormack, who was removed from the party leadership by Joyce in 2022, when the coalition was in power, said that Joyce disappointed his voters and the party that gifted him the deputy prime ministership twice.
“I lost the position of deputy prime minister. Did I turn my back on the Nationalist Party? Did I reject the party that gave me the great honor of being the deputy prime minister? No, I did not reject it,” he said.
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