Election 2022: Barnaby Joyce’s role in Coalition strategy to appeal to northern states

The Coalition is determined to keep Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce where they need him the most to avoid polarising voters.

THE Coalition campaign is determined to keep Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce out of the cities, where his colourful turn of phrase and sometimes unpredictable behaviour are considered a net negative for the government.

The Nationals leader will be used largely in the northern states, and kept out of the more progressive southern states, where focus groups show he is not popular among voters and would be a drag on the vote.

In the Northern Territory, Queensland and rural NSW and WA, his support is stronger, and campaign headquarters will keep him in rural and regional seats where the Nationals brand is strong.

“Plant yourself in Queensland, face north and don’t turn around,’’ one frustrated Coalition staffer observed this week, after Mr Joyce got into an animated stoush in front of the TV cameras with Labor state minister Jacinta Allan at the opening of the Echuca-Moama Bridge on the NSW-Victorian border.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce at the 2022 Paradise Lagoons Campdraft.in Queensland on Easter Saturday. Picture: Brad Hunter, office of the Deputy Prime Minister

One observer close to the Liberal campaign noted Mr Joyce’s run-in with Ms Allan was “not helpful when you’re trying to make Melbourne forget about Barnaby Joyce.’’

Often described as one of Australia’s best retail politicians, Mr Joyce is often a good communicator who has the ability to cut through on complicated issues and explain them in an accessible way.

But focus groups have shown southern state voters, particularly women, do not approve of Mr Joyce, following his well-publicised affair with a staffer, to whom he is now engaged and has two children.

The Nationals candidate in the rural Victorian seat of Nicholls, Sam Birrell, was asked by journalists at the bridge opening on April 11 whether Mr Joyce would “help or hurt your chances.’’

“They all help. But essentially this is a local campaign, it’s the people of Nicholls deciding which candidate can best continue the delivery,’’ Mr Birrell replied.

“It’s a bit telling though that the six Nationals figures on your signage on your door that Barnaby Joyce doesn’t make an appearance?’’ he was then asked, prompting Mr Joyce to laugh and intervene, saying “because I’m here in person’’ and observing that Labor didn’t have a candidate there.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce at the 2022 Paradise Lagoons Campdraft.in Queensland on Easter Saturday. Picture: Brad Hunter, office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Coalition MPs believe Mr Joyce is best kept out of the “AFL states’’ and would instead be used in the north of the country.

In the Northern Territory on Thursday, he was peppered with questions about the Coalition brand, following controversial Dawson MP George Christensen’s defection from the Liberal National Party to One Nation, and the resignation of Senator Sam McMahon from the Country Liberal Party last year, following a preselection battle with Alice Springs deputy mayor Jacinta Price.

Senator McMahon is now contesting the election for the rival Liberal Democrats.

“No-one cares about Barnaby Joyce in the cities anyway, why would we use him there? There’s nothing unusual in that,’’ one MP said.

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