The Sunday Project: Deputy Nationals leader forced to defend Barnaby Joyce’s infamous texts

Lisa Wilkinson has grilled a government insider surrounding Barnaby Joyce’s infamous texts about Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Deputy Nationals leader David Littleproud said Barnaby Joyce was in a “dark place” when he sent explosive texts about Prime Minister Scott Morrison but was forced to defend the party’s attitude towards women, during a grilling from Lisa Wilkinson.

This week, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce issued an apology for a message he sent last year calling Mr Morrison a “hypocrite and a liar” and even offered his resignation, which he said was declined.

In response, the Prime Minister sought to brush off the texts, which were apparently sent to assist alleged Parliament House rape victim Brittany Higgins, saying he couldn’t care less what people said about him.

In what has become an ugly public stoush, Mr Morrison said earlier today, “What people send around a text I frankly could not care less about – politics a horrible business, people get angry, people get bitter – of course they do, that’s all of us.”

Deputy National Party leader David Littleproud responds to the Barnaby Joyce texts on The Project.

However, Mr Littleproud was put against the ropes during a terse exchange with Network 10’s The Sunday Project tonight about the infamous text messages that were leaked by his own party.

During the segment, the question was posed – months out of an election, are the PM and his deputy becoming the government’s biggest liability and if so, how safe is Mr Joyce’s job?

“David, Barnaby said he offered his resignation to the Prime Minister but let’s face it, that is kind of farcical when it’s your party that decides who the deputy PM is.

“If he really meant it, shouldn’t he be offering that same resignation to the Nats Party leadership room meeting tomorrow?” The Sunday Project host Wilkinson asked.

“Ah look, I think we’re getting caught up in the titillations of Canberra," Mr Littleproud said.

“These are just sideshows that really no one out there is interested in and, to be candid, we’re not really interested in. We’re just getting on with the job and I think this has just been blown up out of proportion.

“Barnaby, yes, wrote a text, before he became deputy prime minister, at a stage of his career, and obviously he was in a darker place than he is now but I can tell you from my observations of him working with the Prime Minister, they are very close and in fact some Nats would say they’re probably ‘too close’.

“We like to have a transactional relationship but the deputy Prime Minister tomorrow will talk to our party room and the party room will obviously have an honest conversation about what’s happened but obviously, we’re looking to the future and that’s what we’re focused on more so than ourselves.”

Barnaby Joyce offered his resignation after the texts became public. Picture: Jeremy Piper/NCA NewsWire

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he ‘couldn’t care less’ what people think of him. Picture Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

Fellow host Hamish Macdonald said, “With respect, I know you’re trying to dismiss all of this but these leaks are coming from your own Coalition ranks, it’s not coming from the Opposition, it’s not coming from the public and I know you’re saying – no one’s listening – but there has been a lot said about this Prime Minister.

“Barnaby had known the PM a long time when he sent that text, pretty unfavourably, the French President has said he thinks he’s a liar, (former MP) Julia Banks has said that she thinks he’s a bully, we know what Malcolm Turnbull thinks of Scott Morrison – do you trust Morrison?”

Mr Littleproud replied, “Yes, totally, and in fact I don’t always agree with him, and in fact we’ve had some pretty good barneys over the years, ah, but he’s always, looked me square in the eye and he’s told me from his perspective of the truth but he’s never lied to me and I can quite categorically say that.

“I think it’s no revelation that in politics, not everyone gets on and we’ve seen that for many years in partnerships that have still been able to achieve outcomes – like Hawking and Keating, they weren’t sinking stubbies every Friday night together – they didn’t get on but they did some really good things for Australia.

Hamish Macdonald and Lisa Wilkinson grilled deputy Natational leader David Littleproud on Barnaby Joyce's texts on The Sunday Project. Picture: Network 10/The Sunday Project

“Howard and Costello did the same – no one’s going to be sitting here singing Kumbaya together, but the reality is we work together to get outcomes. What’s important is for the Australian people here – is the outcomes, not the titillations.”

Wilkinson said, “David, Barnaby Joyce sent that text to Brittany Higgin expressing solidarity at her situation at a time when the PM was still insisting he only learned of Brittany‘s alleged rape at the time the story broke.

“The government is now spinning this, as are you, with Barnaby Joyce being in a ‘dark place’ at that time. What message do you think that sends to survivors of sexual assault – that politicians can only have sympathy for those victims when they’re in a ‘dark place’?”

Mr Littleproud replied, “Well, I reject that. We actually do take domestic violence and sexual assault very seriously and in fact we’ve put many, many millions of Australia’s taxpayers money in to address this. It’s a horrid part of our society that has to be weeded out.

“I don’t know what’s happening 50m from my door.in this building here,” he continued.

“So the reality was that he didn’t know what happened. until such time as it was, as it became more public.

“The Prime Minister doesn’t know everything and is not told everything and I think it’s a little unreasonable to think he would.

“The reality is that we take this very seriously and that’s the sort of stuff that not just governments need to fix but we need to fix as a society. We’ve got to be better than that and we all have a roll to play, not just governments.”