Barnaby Joyce to resign from the Nationals today

3 months ago 19

Barnaby Joyce is expected to formally resign from the Nationals and announce his move to One Nation in a 90-second statement in the House of Representatives around 1.30pm.

Joyce told this masthead yesterday he would have “more to say” on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, two of Joyce’s political allies speaking anonymously to this masthead, confirmed Joyce would make his announcement later today.

This masthead revealed Joyce was in talks with One Nation early last month.

Nationals allies including McCormack and Canavan, a friend and former staffer for Joyce, have been urging the former leader of the party to stay in the tent.

But Joyce’s Monday night steak dinner with Hanson was viewed as near-confirmation he is quitting, prompting Canavan to flick the switch to campaigning against an old ally and boss who would become a political enemy who could cannibalise the already-depressed Coalition vote.

Former leadership rival Michael McCormack spent an hour with Joyce in Parliament House’s Aussies cafe on Wednesday, making the case for Joyce to stay in the Nationals “for a number of reasons”.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson talk over a dinner of pasta, salad and steak in Hanson’s office on Monday night.

“I think he owes it to himself, he owes it to his legacy, he owes it to those regional people who put him here, and he owes it to the party which gave him the great privilege of making him deputy prime minister, not once, but as he reminded me, three times,” McCormack said on Wednesday.

Nationals leader David Littleproud, an enemy of Joyce who dumped the former leader from the shadow cabinet after the election, yesterday said Joyce wanted time and space and “we’ve given him that to work through where he wants to be”.

Hanson, who has made no secret of her hopes that Joyce would join her party and one day lead it, told Sky on Tuesday that she thought she “wooed him and dined him beautifully.

“So anyway, we’re going to see what happens... hopefully we’ll see what happens by the end of the week.

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I hope the steak and the dinner and the mulberry pie did it. He’s a good mate. I love him.”

...more to come