‘I like what he stands for’: Hanson says she did try to woo Joyce for One Nation

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has confirmed she asked former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce to join her party after the episode in February last year in which he was filmed mumbling obscenities while sprawled on a Canberra footpath late at night.

After this masthead reported earlier on Monday that Joyce considered joining One Nation in the aftermath of the incident, Hanson uploaded a video to Facebook to make clear that he declined her offer – and that the offer still stands.

Pauline Hanson says she and Barnaby Joyce are on the same page.Credit: Michael Howard

“Some of his colleagues wanted him gone out of parliament,” she says in the video.

“I thought: No. I like Barnaby. I like what he stands for. We’re on the same page. We think alike, and we’re out there and we say it the way we see it. So I asked Barnaby. Guess what? He comes back and said, thanks, Pauline, but no thank you. So he’s remained loyal to the Nationals.”

Catching herself accidentally starting to say “loyal to One Nation”, she quickly corrects herself, adding, “I would like him to cross to One Nation but he said no.”

Joyce remains in parliament as the Nationals’ veterans’ affairs spokesman, but his party leader, David Littleproud, plans to deny him a ministry if the opposition wins power.

Senior Coalition sources familiar with thinking at the top of the party but forbidden from publicly discussing party machinations said Joyce, a two-time former Nationals leader, internal rival of Littleproud and outspoken voice against renewables, was expected to be dropped from cabinet if Coalition leader Peter Dutton won office. As party leader, Littleproud decides on cabinet positions for Nationals.

There is growing discussion in the opposition about how to divide expected spoils of victory even though polls show the Coalition struggling to hit the important 40 per cent primary vote mark that would put it in position to win the roughly 20 extra seats needed to form government.

Joyce has been a rival to Nationals leader David Littleproud (centre) for years.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Liberal sources said Dutton had not given frontbenchers guarantees on retaining ministry positions or their portfolios, keeping them on their toes ahead of an April or May election.

When Dutton announced a portfolio reshuffle in January, he did not guarantee shadow cabinet positions would automatically turn into ministries if the opposition won.

Meanwhile, Littleproud has tightened his grip on the junior Coalition party, aided by the retirement of two Joyce backers, MPs Keith Pitt and David Gillespie. Littleproud’s leadership was nearly challenged midway through this term.

After the embarrassing episode in which Joyce was filmed on a footpath about 11.30pm after attending functions in parliament, the former Nationals leader gave up alcohol and lost 15 kilograms. Some of his associates suggested he retire after the incident, and Joyce held lengthy talks with Pauline Hanson’s party about joining One Nation that ultimately went nowhere.

Joyce declined to comment on whether he would remain in cabinet but told this masthead: “I am not joining One Nation. Nor [any] other party.” Littleproud declined to comment.

This masthead reported this month that Joyce’s supporters believed a new rule from Littleproud’s office requiring permission for shadow cabinet members to conduct political trips outside their electorates was designed to hide Joyce during the election.

The 57-year-old might not be the only Coalition frontbencher to be shifted if Dutton manages to vault back into government after just one term in opposition. A handful of underperforming Liberals and Nationals frontbenchers could be shifted after the election, Coalition sources said. Education Minister Jason Clare last week described Dutton’s frontbench as “Morrison’s leftovers”.

First-term backbenchers Henry Pike, Zoe McKenzie, Aaron Violi, Simon Kennedy and Keith Wolahan are options for promotion.

The Nationals are overrepresented in the shadow cabinet already after the party secured a position for Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in 2023. If Dutton wins enough seats to form government, the composition of the party room will shift towards city-based Liberals as the Nationals are not expected to pick up many seats.

One senior MP said of the composition of a potential Dutton cabinet: “The honest answer is no decisions have been made and they won’t be until the end of the campaign. It will be dependent on performance and behaviour. No one is completely safe.”

It is not unusual for politicians to switch portfolios when they come into government. Notably, Tanya Plibersek went into the 2022 election campaign as the education spokeswoman and was appointed environment minister when Labor won government.

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