Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce ‘loyal’ to Senator Sam McMahon during pre-selection amid drunken allegations
New Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has stuck to blaming border restrictions for cancelling a planned trip to the Northern Territory, where he was expected to support Senator Sam McMahon’s bid for preselection.
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- Barnaby Joyce cancels Territory trip, blaming Covid border restrictions, amid McMahon fallout
- New Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce reveals plans for Darwin visit including backing Sam McMahon, spruiking agriculture visa
NEW Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has stuck to blaming border restrictions for cancelling a planned trip to the Northern Territory, where he was expected to support Senator Sam McMahon’s bid for preselection.
The freshly installed Nationals leader said he would have had to quarantine if he made the weekend trip.
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“If I go there the only things I’m going to see in Darwin is a motel room,” he told ABC Radio Darwin’s Adam Steer.
“In due course when we can go up there and move freely around that’s what I’ll do.”
It comes after host of the ABC’s Insiders program, David Speers, said on radio this morning he was “told that Barnaby Joyce is not coming to Darwin this weekend because they don’t believe Sam McMahon can win pre-selection now.”
The speculation comes after allegations made across the media on Wednesday night that Senator Sam McMahon was offered to leave the senate after appearing to be drunk, claims which are denied by the Senator.
Mr Joyce said Senator McMahon was “instrumental in the national party”.
He said he didnt see her on the night where people have claimed she was intoxicated.
“We know that Sam was sick ... if someone’s sick I’m not going to condem them about it.
“There were other people in the building at the same time who were unwell.”
When asked why he would support Senator McMahon over Alice Springs deputy mayor Jacinta Price in the pre-selection battle, Mr Joyce replied he was loyal to his collegues.
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