Barnaby Joyce resigns as he denies a new sexual harassment claim
AFTER weeks of damaging headlines, Barnaby Joyce has announced he will step down as leader of the Nationals and as Deputy Prime Minister on Monday.
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BARNABY Joyce has resigned as leader of the National Party in the wake of his affair scandal.
The Deputy Prime Minister used a press conference in Armidale to announce he is resigning as leader and will move to the backbench.
Mr Joyce told reporters he would announce at a party room meeting in Canberra on Monday morning that he would step down as the leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister.
A leadership ballot will then be called.
Mr Joyce said a “circuit-breaker” was needed to stop the fallout of his affair for his partner, Vikki Campion, for his unborn son, his four daughters, and estranged wife Natalie.
“This has got to stop. It’s not fair on them,” he said.
Mr Joyce had repeatedly refused to step down as party leader despite the damage the fallout from his affair with Vikki Campion has done to the government over the past two weeks.
MORE: How Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion’s affair happened
MORE: How Malcolm Turnbull found out about Barnaby Joyce quitting
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull thanked Mr Joyce for his service as Deputy Prime Minister in a statement after he announced his resignation.
The Prime Minister, who is currently in the United States on a four-day trip to Washington DC, said Mr Joyce had been a fierce advocate for rural and regional Australians.
After a week of tensions between Nationals and Liberal MPs in the wake of his public criticism of Mr Joyce over his handling of the affair last week, Mr Turnbull said: “The Coalition between the Liberals and the Nationals is Australia’s most successful political partnership, having endured for more than 95 years.”
“This partnership is undiminished and will continue to deliver opportunity and security for all Australians.”
The Prime Minister announced MP John McVeigh would act as Infrastructure and Transport. pending the Nationals’ election of a new leader and subsequent ministerial changes.
Mr Joyce will officially resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport at 8am on Monday.
He dug in last week in the face of Turnbull calling his conduct “appalling” while announcing a new ban on ministers having sex with their staff.
Today’s press conference comes as Mr Joyce rejected a formal sexual harassment complaint lodged against him by a West Australian woman as “spurious” and “defamatory”.
“I’ve asked for the right of the person who’s made the allegation and I’ve asked for my right of defence that that be referred to the police,” he told reporters today.
“But it’s quite evident that you can’t go to the dispatch box with issues like that surrounding you.”
Mr Joyce took to social media after his announcement to declare he would continue to fight for regional Australia.
REVEALED: Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion’s 3000km road trip
On Monday morning I will step down as the Leader of @The_Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. I would like to thank everyone for offering their support to me, especially the people of New England.
— Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) February 23, 2018
I will continue to fight for the people in the weatherboard and iron, for the people on the peripheral and the small regional towns. I used my experience of these towns and my goal in life will always be to try to make their lives better.
— Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) February 23, 2018
Mr Joyce said he would stay as the Member for New England but on the backbench.
“I won’t snipe. I have a lot of things I need to do,” he said.
“I want to assist my colleagues where I can to keep their seats and also, quite naturally, in April, a baby will be born.
“I’ll have other things on my mind.”
He has informed Acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann and National Party colleagues of his decision.
Mr Joyce took a swipe at the media and any fellow MPs who had leaked against him during the past two weeks.
“Over the last half a month, there has been a litany, litany of allegations,” he said.
“I don’t believe any of them have been sustained.
“Might I say right here, any person in any political party always says, the leaking, the backgrounding, all that, it will destroy not only our government, it will destroy any government.”
Mr Joyce said he considered rural and regional Australians, the people in the “weatherboard and iron”, when deciding to step down.
He thanked his constituents for their support.
MORE: Barnaby Joyce comes out swinging in GQ interview
Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack has been tipped to replace Joyce as leader.
Other possible contenders are Assistant Families Minister David Gillespie or Victorian MP Darren Chester.
Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie will not replace Mr Joyce as she sits in the Senate, not the House of Representatives.
Similarly, senior National and one of Mr Joyce’s key allies, Matt Canavan will also not take over as he sits in the Senate.
Key ally and newly appointed Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is also unlikely to be picked as a newcomer to Parliament who was only elected in 2016.
Nationals Whip Michelle Landry said on Monday morning each contender for leader would have a short speech and then there would be a vote.
JOYCE’S DEPUTY WON’T BACK A CANDIDATE
Acting Nationals Leader Bridget McKenzie has declined to back a candidate ahead of next week’s party room to determine the new leader of the party.
Senator McKenzie, who is currently deputy leader of the party, paid tribute to outgoing leader Barnaby Joyce, saying he had made the right decision to step down.
“There’s been no fiercer advocate for rural and regional Australia than Barnaby Joyce in his period of time,” he said.
“Obviously that focus and energy and drive and dedication has taken it’s toll and today we saw him stand down as the leader of our party...
“I wish him all the very, very best to him and his family and I know that he’s looking forward to spending a lot more time at home as a result of the decision he’s taken today.”
Senator McKenzie said a party room meeting would be held at 8am on Monday in Canberra to discuss the leadership following Mr Joyce’s decision to step down.
She said she would not back a candidate and that she would not be making a tilt for the leadership as well.
“I’m not going to run a running commentary on Monday’s meeting,” she said.
“I think I’ve been pretty clear that as acting leader, it would be a really bad look if I started picking winners.”
“There is no stronger advocate for regional Australia,” Senator McKenzie said.
“He has always lead from the front and his colleagues and our party membership always knew who he was fighting for in Canberra,” she said.
“His decision to stand aside is the right decision for the National Party, the nation and most importantly his family.”
Cabinet Minister and senior National senator Matt Canavan, one of Mr Joyce’s closest allies, issued a statement soon after his resignation saying Mr Joyce had made mistakes but would “recover, learn and be a better person from them”.
“It is true that I consider Barnaby a mate,” Senator Canavan said.
“None of my mates are perfect, nor am I. Barnaby has made mistakes but I am sure he will recover, learn and be a better person from them.
“He now has a new partner and a new child to care for and that is much more important than any of his achievements in public life.”
He praised Mr Joyce’s accomplishments as Nationals leader, saying he had “more courage than most” and “helped pull the Nationals back from the grave”.
“I am sure Barnaby will continue that fight, as will the Nationals party,” he said.
“Now more than ever there is a need for a party to fight for those who produce the wealth that maintains our prosperity and builds our future.”
Senator Canavan also sent a message of support to Mr Joyce’s family.
“I also express my regret about the impact this has had on Natalie and Barnaby’s four daughters,” he said.
“They are a beautiful family. Nat is a remarkable woman of strength, character and good cheer. All of their girls are bright, vivacious and full of life. I am sure they will thrive beyond these difficult times.”
Nationals federal president Larry Anthony said the party would “greet this news with a heavy heart” but understood and respected his decision to stand down as leader.
Mr Joyce was a great leader, “a true champion of regional and rural Australia” and led the party to its best result in 20 years at the 2016 election, Mr Anthony said.
“Barnaby will continue to be a huge asset for the party as the Member for New England,” he said.
National party stalwart Ron Boswell said Joyce “has done a tremendous service to the National Party standing down”.
“The National Party is big enough to be a political party and small enough to be a family.
“He made an honourable choice and the party will be grateful that they won’t have to go through a knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out process.
“There’s all sorts of loyalties in the party room and the loyalties were being stretched.
“He’s relieved the party room of that pressure.”
Mr Boswell said Mr Joyce had been a strong leader and vote winner, but he had lost that ability.
“He realised with the problem he had, he could no longer hype up the National Party constituency,” he said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten said the scandal had been damaging for the government and the country after it was left to drag on for 16 days.
He called for Mr Turnbull to make the Coalition’s agreement public, so the Prime Minister could never again be “emasculated to the point he can have no say in the Deputy Prime Minister.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Earlier today, Acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann refused to comment on the sexual harassment claim today beyond saying “some very serious allegations have been made”.
“All allegations of sexual harassment are very serious,” he told reporters in Sydney today.
“It’s important that we get to the, obviously, that we establish the facts.
“A formal complaint has been made.
“There is an investigation under way and that investigation, of course, should be allowed to take its course.”
This afternoon’s press conference came after a second Nationals MP publicly said he could not back Mr Joyce as party leader.
NSW Nationals MP Andrew Gee released a statement this morning saying: “Until I have clarification regarding some of the issues about Barnaby, I won’t be able to back him.”
The Calare MP added he was also not in a position to back any challenger at this stage.
“Our electorate comes first, and nobody has contacted me to tell me they’re challenging, what they’d do for the Calare electorate or how our key projects would be progressed,” he said.
“As things stand, all bets are off, I’m backing the electorate and not anyone else, and we’ll just have to see what next week brings.”
Nationals MP Andrew Broad was the first party member to call for Mr Joyce to resign yesterday.
The Daily Telegraph first reported an official complaint had been made yesterday evening.
It’s understood the sexual harassment claim prompted the WA Nationals leader Mia Davies to call for the federal Nationals leader to resign this week.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott defended Mr Joyce today, saying: “Whatever your judgment of recent things, I think Barnaby is a decent human being fundamentally and I think he has been a very effective politician.”
“I think he has been a highly competent minister,” Mr Abbott said.
“In the end, he has to be judged as a politician on his professional performance, and I think that’s been a good performance.”
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne this morning said the claim lodged against Mr Joyce was a “serious distraction” for the government but a matter for the National Party to resolve.
“Obviously it’s a significant distraction, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Pyne said on the Nine Network’s The Today Show.
“But how it’s resolved is not a matter for the Liberal Party. We are two separate parties. And we don’t always agree and we don’t always go in exactly the same direction,” he said.
Mr Joyce has been on a week’s leave from his parliamentary duties.
Mr Pyne refused to endorse Mr Joyce as Nationals leader when asked seven times by Today Show host Karl Stefanovic this morning.
He said Mr Joyce was a good friend who was going through “a very difficult time” but it was not his place to comment on the Nationals leadership as a Liberal MP.
“I support him as a cabinet colleague, of course I do, and as a friend,” he said.
Mr Broad broke with National Party colleagues yesterday to publicly call for Mr Joyce to resign.
“At this point in time he should take a step back and stand down and be on the back bench,” Mr Broad told ABC radio.
Mr Joyce hit back, telling Fairfax Media he was confident he would still be leader after Monday’s party meeting.
“Andrew Broad has expressed these sentiments before,” Mr Joyce said.
“The proper venue for the discussion of these issues is within the party room, which we will do on Monday.”
Originally published as Barnaby Joyce resigns as he denies a new sexual harassment claim
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