The Sauce: Barnaby Joyce’s hilarious Sky News election night commentary

The election night commentary was mostly statistics and graphs, but federal Nat Barnaby Joyce threw in a zinger about one battling MP.

Lime Cordiale helped to push out Climate 200’s how to vote technique. Picture: Tim Swallow

Nationals firebrand Barnaby Joyce livened up Sky News’ election coverage with the comment of the night.

Praising the positive attitude of the Dave Layzell after the Nats’ Upper Hunter MP appeared via satellite, Joyce bowled this one up.

“If I had half a gram of what he’s on, I’d be happy for the rest of my life,” Mr Joyce said.

Dave Layzell arrives at Singleton Showground for his election function.

Mr Layzell faces a battle to hold on to the usually safe seat for the Nationals, but was positively ebullient.

With almost 30 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Layzell was ahead of Labor challenger Peree Watson with 53.3 per cent of the vote.

CLIMATE 200’S CHEEKY BID TO INFLUENCE VOTER BEHAVIOUR

Social media users may have noticed their usual Instagram puppy and fashion feeds being interrupted with high-profile “influencers” and artists talking about the voting system in place in NSW.

Cheek Media — an account run by Hannah Ferguson which has more than 67,000 followers — even went so far as using different kinds of dildos to explain optional preferential voting.

The Sauce can reveal the voting system explainers were created following a request by Climate 200, a group supporting “Teal” independents in the state election.

Unlike in the federal election, which has a preferential voting system — that is, voters must number every box — NSW voters can list their preferences or just “vote 1”.

However, the non-compulsory preferences disadvantage non-major parties such as the Teals, whose votes can fizzle out — which is the reason Pittwater “Teal” Jacqui Scruby kicked up a stink at the Libs’ “Just vote 1” posters that suddenly appeared near all her corflutes.

Hannah Ferguson’s Cheek Media has helped Climate 200 get the message out about optional preferential voting in NSW.

Other influencers who agreed to publish an explainer following an approach by Climate 200 on why it was important to number every box included Australian pop group Lime Cordiale (166,000 followers) and singer-songwriter Jack River (more than 47,000 followers).

A Climate 200 spokesman said the artists and influencers were not paid, but agreed to run an explainer.

Lime Cordiale, aka Australian brothers Louis and Oli …

… and Jack River also helped to spread the word.

“We briefed them — Cheek Media, Lime Cordiale and Jack River — who all went and made content,” he said.

Reinforcing their message, Climate 200 also parked a truck with “Number Every Box” plastered on it outside pre-poll booths in seats their candidates were contesting.

PIZZA FACTION

Not all is well in the NSW Nationals’ camp.

In the final week of the NSW election campaign, some MPs were privately expressing dissatisfaction at the more “subdued” leadership of Deputy Premier Paul Toole, especially after the combative John Barilaro who never shied away from taking it up to the Libs.

But whether this dissatisfaction would lead to a challenge, both sources conceded there was no clear successor, although Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders had been pegged as “a future prospect”.

Deputy Premier and Police Minister Paul Toole.

“We can’t have a leader in the upper house and that’s where we have talent,” one said.

“The newbies are in the lower house.

“The dissatisfaction is starting to creep through the ranks. The talk is starting to stick.

“The problem Toole has is JB set a high bar re: taking on the Libs. If you push him, Tooley will really go them, but not like JB.”

For any moves to be made, there would have to have been agreement across the factions — yes, the Nats now appear to have them, including a “pizza faction”.

The pizza faction — which used to gather regularly at a restaurant in the CBD during sitting weeks — came to prominence during Covid, when member Adam Marshall tested positive, forcing everyone at the gathering into isolation.

Members are said to have included Steph Cooke, Ben Franklin and Mel Pavey.

With Pavey having retired and the pizza restaurant recently closed down, we are not sure of the status of this faction.

The other factions are loosely referred to as “the coastal Nats” and “Dolce & Gabbana”, the latter referring to the alliance of Dugald Saunders and Gurmesh Singh.

How the factions get along is usually evident at the Nats’ annual Monday sitting week barbecue.

“Who talks to whom, who turns up, who doesn’t — this is where the more obvious internal rifts are exposed,” one well-placed source told us.

GRUDGE MATCH

It was one of the nastier election contests — and it was not between Labor and the Liberals.

In a sign of deepening divisions within the Coalition, one of the uglier battles occurred between the Liberals and the Nationals.

While three-cornered contests are rare, this was not the case in Port Macquarie, where ex-Nat turned Liberal MP Leslie Williams was forced to fight for her seat against Nationals candidate and mayor Peta Pinson.

Williams’ supporters claimed a smear campaign was run against Williams, while some Nats described her defection to the Liberals amid the “koala wars” as amounting to treachery.

However, not all Nats were calling for blood — the party’s former deputy leader Niall Blair was clearly standing by his former colleague, taking a selfie showing off his blue “Leslie Williams” supporter T-shirt.

SIZZLE WITH ZINGERS

Waverley Public School has revived scandals old and new in their democracy sausage sizzle this year.

A stiff $3000 will pick you up a Barry O’Farrell Grange Sanga, in tribute to the fallen Liberal premier’s demise over an undeclared bottle of wine.

In another cheeky ode to ICAC, $10 got voters a Gladys and Daryl Double Date Sanga.

Referencing Dom’s election week micro-scandal, when it was revealed he called Health Minister Brad Hazzard when needing an ambulance for his wife, punters could skip the queue if they purchased a Minns-meat Sausage with Perrottet 000 Sauce.

‘HAVE SOME COMPASSION’

A stressed dad was forced to pull out photos of his sick son so he could get into the Leichhardt pre-polling booth before it closed on Friday night.

The man attended the early-voting centre at Leichhardt Town Hall 10 minutes before it closed on Friday night, but was turned away by electoral staff.

The man explained his little boy was sick and undergoing surgery early on Saturday morning, and even pulled up pictures on his phone showing the boy hooked up to monitors.

“I can’t vote on Saturday morning, my son is sick,” he said to staff. “He is in hospital, now is my only time to do it.”

He was only let into the polling centre when the last person in the queue gave up his spot for the man.

“What a joke you are,” the good Samaritan said to staff. “Have a bit of compassion.”

SON’S ENDORSEMENT

Showing Chris Minns can’t take any vote for granted, even his own son Nicholas was forced to clarify he supported his dad.

After Minns previously revealed his middle son liked to tease him around the house by wearing a Dominic Perrottet shirt and claiming “this guy makes a lot of sense”, the younger Minns on Saturday wanted to go “on the record” with the media.

“I made one passing comment about Dominic Perrottet, never said anything on the record.

“I don’t want any more of this stuff. Looking at you,” he said, pointing to the cameras on election day.

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Originally published as The Sauce: Barnaby Joyce’s hilarious Sky News election night commentary