Barnaby Joyce may be an idiot and drink too much but he shouldn’t resign from parliament

Is Barnaby Joyce an idiot? Yes. Has the former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister made a mess of his private life? Yes. Does he drink too much? Yes. Has the latest personal episode of lying in a Canberra street after drinking done him even more harm? Yes. Has he looked like a “living, breathing caricature of Sir Les Patterson”? Yes. Has he disappointed himself, family, friends and supporters again? Yes.

By any fair standards does Joyce have to resign from parliament? No.

Joyce is not helping himself, his family, the Nationals, the Coalition, Peter Dutton or the parliament but his political fate and continued service in the House or Representatives are in his hands and the hands of the people of New England who have elected him five times since 2013 with massive margins.

Joyce in the House on Tuesday after the vulnerable images emerged of him emerged.

On Monday Labor backbencher, Tania Lawrence, elected in 2022, told parliament: “What we have witnessed over the last little while is embarrassing not just for the member and not just for his party; it’s embarrassing for every member of this parliament, because we are examples to our community, young and old. We represent Australia to the international dignitaries and visitors we meet each week. How should we conduct ourselves so as to maintain their respect?”

“Improper behaviour before, during or after work, as anyone who has worked in the public service or the private sector well knows, can mean disciplinary action, and if it is part of a course of behaviour it may be a sackable offence,” she said.

“We are under the spotlight and we should be acting accordingly. If we can’t, then we must also be able to understand that there isn’t a single member here who is irreplaceable,” she said as she raised the idea that Joyce should be sacked or resign.

Other more experienced Labor figures, Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten, refused to join a “lynch mob” and left it to the people of Joyce’s electorate to decide.

Some of Joyce’s election wins in New England have occurred after implosions in his personal life, promotions and demotions in office and even after he was found to be guilty of being a New Zealander. Not even parliament still has the power to remove an MP which was used only once since Federation.

Since parliament began there has been some political advantage in being a “loveable larrikin”, disposed to scandal, adultery and drunkenness for some MPs, particularly in the bush, who have looked more at home in an ancient Dad and Dave episode on parliament and are in touch with the “grassroots” of their electorate.

Joyce with the Z Chords buskers performing at the Tamworth Country Music Festival 2022.

Australia’s first prime minister, Edmund Barton, was accused of being “snoringly drunk” in the NSW legislative assembly before he became PM, John Curtin, our great wartime leader, was an alcoholic who took periods off to “dry out”, an inebriated John Gorton vomited on a RAAF plane and Bob Hawke was notorious for drinking, adultery and carousing before he became prime minister.

I know of a former NSW state minister who was found in an alcoholic coma in his office but who was supported by friends, reformed and served the people of NSW honestly and well for years. I have also been told of an instance of a late-night division in Canberra’s House of Representatives when a senior MP was so drunk they couldn’t walk to the chamber and a wheelchair was organised so the vote was not missed.

Other MPs and senators, male and female, were disgraced for drunkenness in the chamber or at Parliamentary parties and for adulterous affairs. They variously resigned leadership positions or parliamentary posts but did not resign from parliament.

Joyce’s fate will be decided by the voters of New England.

When it was revealed in 2007 that Kevin Rudd had attended Scores strip club in New York in 2003 he claimed he was too drunk to remember the details and said: “I never claimed to be Captain perfect”. Some suggested the revelation actually helped Rudd’s human image.

Recently, even Treasurer Jim Chalmers admitted bluntly when asked if he had been “cutting loose socially” that he had and it was because he was drinking too much. Like others, such as Hawke, Chalmers recognised the dangers and stopped drinking every night: “I knew that if I wanted to do a big, serious job, I couldn’t keep drinking six or seven nights a week, basically.”

What has really happened in relation to Joyce’s public tumble – apart from the ubiquitous and callous vision on mobile phones – is that there is a new standard being demanded of politicians before and after they enter parliament which applies a moral standard beyond whether your private behaviour affects your public duties.

All of the people above and many others not mentioned were good people, human and all gave long and valued public service. Joyce is an idiot but he’s still a good man, provided long service and will be judged by his electorate and his own conscience. Calls for him to leave parliament are naive and sanctimonious.