Gaffe-prone Joyce the ALP’s best weapon

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Barnaby Joyce is better suited to driving the clown car at a three-ring circus than being Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Nationals. He is an embarrassment to Australia, has shamed his once great party and has humiliated the Coalition government and Scott Morrison. If Joyce had an ounce of honour or decency he would resign.

In now notorious leaked text messages sent to a third party to pass on to Brittany Higgins in March last year, he labelled the Prime Minister “a hypocrite and a liar” based on his “long time” observations. Joyce added: “I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie.”

This makes Joyce’s position as the No.2 minister in the government, and leader of the junior Coalition party, untenable. It is not enough that Joyce offered his resignation to Morrison; he should have resigned immediately when the text became public. Does this man have no understanding of accountability or political acumen?

Not for the first time, Joyce has caused immense damage to the government he serves. He has placed Morrison in an impossible position. If Morrison demanded his resignation, that would have unleashed further divisions. He then would have to insist on the resignation of the other minister who reportedly texted Gladys Berejiklian with their own harsh character assessment.

Be in no doubt, the Joyce text message has badly damaged Morrison. It validates Anthony Albanese’s central critique of Morrison that he cannot be trusted to manage Australia’s post-pandemic recovery, is perpetually loose with the truth, shifts blame for problems to others and is never accountable for his actions.

How can Joyce continue to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and in cabinet after calling the Prime Minister “a hypocrite and a liar” whom he has “never” trusted? The Coalition would be much better served if Joyce resigned and the Nationals elected a new leader and consequently deputy prime minister. He should never have returned to the leadership anyway.

The text message scandal – textgate – threatens to engulf the Morrison government. Joyce’s brutal assessment of Morrison comes after Peter van Onselen revealed at the National Press Club last week text messages between the former NSW premier and an unnamed Liberal minister at the time of the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Berejiklian described Morrison as “a horrible, horrible person” who was “actively spreading lies” about her and was “obsessed with petty political pointscoring”. The minister labelled Morrison a “fraud” and “a complete psycho” and said he was “desperate and jealous”. The minister added: “The mob have worked him out and think he’s a fraud.”

Then, in a moment of characteristic chutzpah, Joyce suggested the minister who texted the then premier should “out themselves”. Politicians, staff and journalists have been in a frenzy about who the person is. Malcolm Turnbull comically suggested it was “Colonel Mustard in the library with a smartphone.”

The circus continued with Bob Carr’s Sunday night declaration, via Twitter, that the real culprit was Defence Minister Peter Dutton. The former foreign minister and NSW premier said Dutton had “shared the text with van Onselen and gave permission to use it”. Carr doesn’t know this; he says he was told it by a media source. Dutton said Carr’s claim was “baseless” and “untrue”.

While the minister who texted Berejiklian remains a mystery, the minister who lashed Morrison as a liar and hypocrite who could not be trusted is known. The Joyce text message will continue to undermine Morrison’s standing until election day. Labor will be sure to remind every voter of it. It will be in high rotation. Voters don’t need to believe Albanese’s critique of Morrison when they can read Joyce’s text.

Joyce’s political career has been one long train wreck. His high opinion of himself is divorced from the reality of his performance. He suffers from incredible self-delusion. He has long been a divisive political figure. His rambling, bumbling media performances have led to gaffe after gaffe, repeatedly leaving his colleagues to mop up his mess. His public life frequently has collided with his personal life and he had to resign over allegations of sexual harassment and the revelation of an extramarital affair in 2018. The socially conservative members of the Nationals and their broader constituency are appalled by his behaviour. He is a turn-off for many voters, especially women.

Morrison is not the only prime minister Joyce has undermined. He undermined Turnbull’s government, too, when his soap opera life threatened the Coalition’s survival. Turnbull wrote in his memoir that Joyce lied to him about his relationship with staff member Vikki Campion. Joyce undermined Michael McCormack, twice challenging his leadership of the Nationals, finally wresting the top job on a second attempt.

More recently, Joyce held the Morrison government to ransom over climate change. It is the most important long-term policy challenge we face, given the impact on our economy, environment and health, yet Joyce and his rump party dictated government policy. Joyce did not represent the views of farmers, miners or rural industry groups, who wanted stronger action to reduce emissions.

It is demeaning to all Australians that Joyce remains Deputy Prime Minister. How many times must this man demonstrate his unfitness for high office? It is ludicrous that Joyce occupies a position held by the great Nationals leaders of the past, including John McEwen, Doug Anthony and Tim Fischer. They too would be mortified.

Textgate has been manna from heaven for Labor. Albanese cannot believe his luck. Morrison is in hellish trouble. The election will be as much about policy as it is about leadership and character.

These messages are far more significant than any attack from Labor because they come from within. Joyce, with his name attached to one of them, may as well be campaigning for a Labor government.