Barnaby Joyce battles vicious innuendo as Coalition fears citizenship woe

EMBATTLED Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is in the grip of a deeply personal crisis that has now spilled into his public life at the very time he is fighting to save his political career.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has had personal and political flak to contend with.

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EMBATTLED Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is in the grip of a deeply personal crisis that has now spilled into his public life at the very time he is fighting to save his political career.

The popular Nationals leader, who faces being kicked out of Parliament next week over his dual citizenship, has for months struggled with issues that have affected his marriage of 24 years.

The personal drama has sent shivers of panic through the National Party and the Turnbull government. Senior figures are worried Mr Joyce’s private life could leave him vulnerable as opponents circle the story and prepare to use it against him should the looming High Court verdict on his citizenship result in a by-election.

Tony Windsor is “showing himself to be a bitter old bastard”, a Nationals source said.

Already, long-term rival Tony Windsor has published a series of provocative social media posts. The posts contain vicious innuendo about Mr Joyce’s personal life.

The private turmoil has spilled over into his office with staff leaving at the height of the situation.

One of Mr Joyce’s female advisers left his office to work for another minister who is close to Mr Joyce, before moving to another MP.

The National Party, on standby for a by-election in Mr Joyce’s safe, conservative seat of New England, is bracing for a dirty campaign to be unleashed against Mr Joyce.

Senior sources are fearful the tactic may weaken or even endanger the Nationals leader’s firm hold on the northeast NSW seat, despite recent polling giving them confidence he will retain it.

 

“It would be ridiculous to say it isn’t stressful.”

 

The matter has also come to the attention of senior members of the Liberal Party, all too aware of the crucial need to hold New England for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to maintain his one-seat grip on power.

Mr Joyce, a father-of-four, declined to comment when contacted by The Saturday Telegraph.

But in August, as he battled daily Labor taunts over his dual citizenship, he spoke of the physical and mental toll he was suffering.

We now know his distress was compounded by the turmoil in his personal life and that Mr Joyce has been under significant pressure.

“You stay awake at night. You wake up early in the morning and you are working things over in your mind as to how this happened,” he said at the time.

Mr Joyce was highly concerned during the 2016 federal election campaign about holding onto his seat but won comfortably.

“Of course it is stressful, it would be ridiculous to say it isn’t stressful.”

A senior Nationals source said there are concerns over a scandal in Mr Joyce’s personal life and a dirt-file upsetting the conservative voters.

“This has come to light in the last few weeks as there’s preparation under way for a by-election,” the source said.

“The party is worried. Concerned. You can’t afford to lose a seat even if it’s New England when there’s a one-seat majority and of course the rumours, if they’re proved to be true, aren’t going to help the retention of that seat.”

Another Nationals source said Mr Joyce’s strategy was to ignore Mr Windsor, but admitted it was worrying given the conservative electorate. “We don’t want to get in the gutter with him. Barnaby can be the statesman here. Windsor is showing himself to be a bitter old bastard. You can see it in his tweets. He’s angry,” he said.

Mr Joyce, who was married in 1993, is Catholic and has spoken often of his conservative social and economic values.

 

 

 

 

The National Party has been putting in place contingency plans should Mr Joyce be ruled ineligible, including organising for the Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion to take over as the parliamentary leader of the Nationals.

Mr Joyce was highly concerned during the 2016 federal election campaign about holding onto his seat with a vigorous campaign by the unions, left-wing activists GetUp! and Mr Windsor in his seat.

In the end, his win was comfortable, with Mr Joyce receiving 52 per cent of the primary vote compared to Mr Windsor’s 29 per cent.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson did not run a candidate in the seat last year, but will if a by-election is called. One Nation has confirmed they may not preference Mr Joyce.

In August Mr Joyce discovered he held New Zealand citizenship by descent.