Barnaby Joyce future: Nats MPs plotted on WhatsApp chat
A GROUP of National Party MPs secretly discussed a plot to try to oust embattled leader Barnaby Joyce on the messaging service WhatsApp this week.
NSW
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A GROUP of National Party MPs secretly discussed a plot on the messaging service WhatsApp to try to oust embattled leader Barnaby Joyce this week.
And the Nationals are still considering a coup, with Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack refusing to rule himself out when asked.
“There’s no vacancy,” Mr McCormack said.
“Barnaby is the leader and until he’s not there’s no contest.”
The WhatsApp plotters this week war-gamed a way to challenge their leader, while a second Whats-App group involving all Nationals MPs, including deputy leader Bridget McKenzie, told a very different story as colleagues heaped praise on their leader.
One of the messages after Malcolm Turnbull’s public excoriation of Mr Joyce warned: “Disunity is death.”
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Mr Joyce will take personal leave this week but he came close to losing the top job on Tuesday when plotters including Andrew Broad, Keith Pitt and Mr McCormack held secret meetings in the ministerial wing of Parliament House.
Fortunately for Mr Joyce, the talks were repeatedly disrupted by the parliamentary division bells, buying him more time to shore up support.
Having weathered revelations he was expecting a baby with his former staffer Vikki Campion, Joyce’s future hinged on whether he could explain the creation of a series of high-paying jobs for his now-partner Ms Campion.
Leadership tensions reached fever pitch on Tuesday night when a small group of Nationals began recruiting numbers to approach Mr Joyce and ask him to step down after ruling out a coup.
Despite a swell of support following the PM’s attack on Mr Joyce this week, colleagues are increasingly unsure if he will survive the scandal. Mr Joyce’s 20 colleagues will spend the week in their electorates trying to gauge whether their constituents agree that he should stay on as leader. That information will decide whether anyone is brave enough to force a spill at the next party room meeting, on Monday week.
Nationals backbencher Llew O’Brien said Mr Joyce is the “best bloke for the job”. “As it stands today Barnaby has my full support,” he said. “I think Barnaby is a good man who is going through a rough time ... I understand the Prime Minister wants to lift the standards but once you start talking about another man’s family, you need to tread warily.”