Littleproud hasn’t given up on Barnaby Joyce, urges him to stay and ‘help us rebuild’

7 hours ago 3

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is being urged by colleagues to change his mind and avoid betraying the party that allowed him to serve as deputy prime minister, as he plots a move to join forces with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

After this masthead revealed on Friday that he was in advanced talks with Hanson, Joyce confirmed he would not stand for his seat of New England at the next election and said his relationship with the Nationals was irreparable.

But party leader David Littleproud, who has butted heads with Joyce for years, said on Sunday that the matter was not beyond resolution.

“He hasn’t tendered a resignation from the National Party,” Littleproud said on Channel Nine’s Today.

“He’s made it clear to his party members that he won’t be recontesting the seat of New England.

“I’ve been out of range yesterday but I’ll be reaching out and having a conversation and making sure he understands that he, along with the rest of us, will play a very important role in shaping the Coalition and helping the Coalition rebuild.”

Joyce said in a written statement on Saturday that his “relationship with the leadership of the Nationals in Canberra has unfortunately, like a sadness in some marriages, irreparably broken down”.

“I wished I had been given more time to consider this and don’t know the motives of those who put the story out there. I am free to now consider all options as to what I do next.”

Joyce’s statement did not directly address the prospect of defection, although it did say that continuing to sit in the Nationals’ party room in Canberra was “untenable”.

Parliament returns in the week starting October 27 and Coalition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam argued the matter must be resolved before then. The flare-up came after weeks of debate over the frontbench departures of Liberal MPs Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Andrew Hastie.

Opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonno Duniam.

Duniam echoed the view of former Nationals leader Michael McCormack, who said it would be wrong for Joyce to “throw [his] toys out of the cot” due to a personal disagreement with Littleproud.

Duniam said on Sky’s Sunday Agenda: “I certainly hope that in reflecting on his time in parliament, which is something that only became possible – as has been pointed out – because of his support from the National Party organisation, that he doesn’t walk away from that.

“I think moving to One Nation, you know, while he might be able to continue his time in parliament would be one thing. I think it’s important to respect those who [brought] you to the dance and in this case, it was the Nats.”

One Nation sources and sources close to Joyce said on Saturday that his plan, which remains fluid, was for Joyce to lead One Nation in the lower house until the election and one day lead the party from the Senate.

Hanson said on Saturday she would welcome Joyce with open arms. This masthead revealed in February that the pair had held talks about linking up last year.

Hanson said the Nationals were at their lowest ebb as a party and said that One Nation had opened 50 branches around the country since the May election.

“In Tamworth now you’ve got people that used to be staunch National party have come across to One Nation, because they’ve been hitting their head up against a brick wall, that their members of parliament have not been representing them,” Hanson said.

McCormack, who was deposed from the party’s leadership by Joyce in 2022 when the Coalition was in government, said Joyce had let down his constituents and the party that had gifted him the deputy prime ministership twice.

“I lost the deputy prime ministership. Did I turn my back on the National Party? Did I spurn the party that gifted me the great honour of being the deputy prime minister? No, I didn’t,” he said.

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