Barnaby Joyce fallout: Nats count numbers as leader defies calls to step down
EMBATTLED Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is refusing to step aside despite being called to Sydney yesterday for an emergency summit with the Prime Minister.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
EMBATTLED Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is refusing to step aside despite being called to Sydney yesterday for an emergency summit with the Prime Minister.
Malcolm Turnbull emerged from the crisis talks “frustrated that Barnaby still doesn’t get it,” according to senior sources.
As Nationals MPs count numbers for a possible leadership coup when Parliament returns on February 26, Mr Turnbull yesterday ordered the Deputy Prime Minister to come to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices for a last-ditch attempt to resolve their feud.
Mr Joyce has agreed to take personal leave this week to avoid stepping up as acting prime minister while Mr Turnbull is in the United States.
At yesterday’s dramatic meeting, Mr Joyce is understood to have expressed anger about Mr Turnbull’s statements on his private life, including the remark that Mr Joyce made a “shocking error of judgment” by having an affair with staffer Vikki Campion, who is now pregnant.
Mr Turnbull, interviewed yesterday morning for a 60 Minutes profile that will air tonight, said he had consulted his wife Lucy before publicly lambasting Mr Joyce and announcing a new ministerial rule banning sex with employees.
“Lucy and I talked about this, this is one of those classic issues where it’s good to take counsel from your wife, life partner,” Mr Turnbull told 60 Minutes.
“Lucy absolutely agrees, and — who would disagree?
“I don’t care if the ministers are married or whether they are single.
“The minister can be the most eligible bachelor or young woman in the country and be absolutely free in terms of who they can have relations with — but if they’re a minister in my government they cannot have sexual relations with their staff.”
Several Nationals MPs have told The Sunday Telegraph they will demand Mr Joyce step down as leader or risk a spill at the next party room meeting scheduled for February 26.
“It’s pretty fluid,” one Nationals MP said yesterday.
“I was firmly of the opinion that we couldn’t roll him this week but, if we come back and it’s still live, we will need to change leaders.”
NATS PLOTTED BARNABY FUTURE ON WHATSAPP
JOYCE BILLS TAXPAYERS TO SLEEP 90 MINUTES FROM HOME
Another National Party MP said Mr Joyce’s decision to call the Prime Minister “inept” would be used by the Opposition to bring down the Government.
But supporters of Mr Joyce remain furious at Mr Turnbull for his intervention and personal attack on Mr Joyce, describing it as “totally unwarranted”.
“He (Turnbull) hasn’t even spoken about Shorten with that bitterness of passion,” one Joyce loyalist said.
It comes as former prime minister Tony Abbott yesterday jumped into the stoush, taking a swipe at Mr Turnbull for commenting on the leadership of the junior Coalition partner.
“The general rule I always observed was that one party doesn’t give another party public advice,” Mr Abbott said in Melbourne.
“If a member of parliament has something to say to another member of parliament he or she should knock on the door or pick up the phone.”
The saga is threatening to reignite the proxy war between Mr Turnbull and Mr Abbott with conservative forces using the fight to highlight the National Party’s distrust of Mr Turnbull.
Labor has seized on the saga, launching a 20-second commercial demanding the government “fix the mess”.
The advertisement features footage from Mr Turnbull and Mr Joyce’s duelling press conferences swapping between the top leaders using words such as “terrible”, “harm” and “hurt”.
Mr Joyce drove to yesterday’s meeting in Sydney and was spotted reading The Daily Telegraph at a Goulburn petrol station.