Christian Porter should be able to return to the frontbench if he holds his seat at the next election, even if he never discloses who helped him pay his legal bills, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says.

A day after Mr Porter was forced out of cabinet after declining to disclose the contributors to a blind trust that helped with his legal costs, Mr Joyce said if the voters in Mr Porter’s seat of Pearce chose to return him, that should be judgment enough.