‘I hope Barnaby fails in his next political task’: Nationals elder Ron Boswell
Former powerbroker Ron Boswell has launched a scathing attack on Barnaby Joyce’s defection to One Nation, saying the far right poses a dangerous threat to Australian unity.
Nationals party luminary Ron Boswell says he hopes Barnaby Joyce “fails in his next political task” after joining One Nation and has warned the junior Coalition partner must “never underestimate the chaos fringe movements can create”.
In a rare intervention, the former Nationals Senate leader said Pauline Hanson and her party had always posed a danger to unity in Australia, describing One Nation and the far right as “shouters … stunt-performers” and “fringe agitators”.
“I have spent my entire political career fighting the far right,” Mr Boswell writes in The Australian. “I campaigned against Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. So to see my good friend and colleague fall to Pauline’s charm, like so many before him, is distressing.”
After weeks of speculation, Mr Joyce used the final sitting week of parliament for the year to confirm he was leaving the Nationals, claiming he had been pushed out by David Littleproud and explicitly asked to resign by former Coalition leader Peter Dutton before the election.
While refusing to confirm at the time whether he would join One Nation in the next parliamentary term, Mr Joyce, 58, said on Monday it had become clear to him that Senator Hanson was driving “the political agenda” and that the best choice for him would be to stand for One Nation as a NSW senator. “It is unfortunate, but my professional relationship within the Nationals between myself and the leadership had become incongruous with me giving my best,” Mr Joyce said.
Colleagues of Mr Joyce derided the decision, especially after Senator Hanson donned a burka in parliament – repeating the stunt she carried out nearly a decade ago.
In a shot across Mr Joyce’s bow, Mr Boswell suggests the former deputy prime minister has chosen the “easy” path in joining One Nation, rather than being part of the weakened Coalition’s reconstruction. “The far right has always been alluring, but only because it is easy,” Mr Boswell writes. “It is the party of complainers, of people who point at problems but never lift a finger to fix them. Like the prodigal son, Barnaby has taken his inheritance of political experience and wandered off and we all know how that story ends.”
Mr Boswell says the Coalition “must rediscover its confidence and clarity” and “get its collective act together”.
“It must simplify and focus its message,” he says. “Don’t try to be everything to everybody. A broad church doesn’t mean everyone gets a prize. People will work you out very smartly if you try that.”
Despite lashing Mr Joyce for leaving “the political home that raised him, shaped him, and supported him”, Mr Boswell says the possibility of the New England MP returning to the Nationals remains open.
“As with any family, the door remains open when he remembers where he truly belongs.
“Let Pauline’s party deal in division,” Mr Boswell writes. “Let Barnaby chase whatever he thinks he will find. We will keep doing the work, steady, loyal, and united for the people who keep this nation running. And when Barnaby’s wanderings run their course, as wanderings always do, the Nationals will still be here: still united, still serving regional Australia, still home.”
One Nation currently has four senators in parliament, three elected at the May 3 election, representing NSW, Queensland and Western Australia. Senator Hanson is the only One Nation upper house member whose term expires in 2028.
A Senate tilt would represent a return to Mr Joyce’s past, as he entered parliament as a Queensland senator in 2005 before shifting to the lower house in 2013 when he was elected the MP for New England.
Mr Boswell’s call for Mr Joyce to consider returning to the Nationals in the future followed friends and colleagues of the former leader lashing Mr Joyce for what they saw as a “dummy spit”.
Queensland Nationals senator and Joyce ally Matt Canavan said his former colleague was “throwing the toys out of the cot”, while Mr Littleproud said it was clear that the issue was solely “about Barnaby wanting to be the leader of a party”.
Another close friend of Mr Joyce, former Nationals senator John Williams, revealed he had texted Mr Joyce on the morning of his resignation to warn that if he joined One Nation their 20-year friendship would be over.
“I said he’d be making an enemy of me,” Mr Williams told The Australian.
Former Nationals leader John Anderson said on Tuesday he was “genuinely disappointed” in Mr Joyce.
“Whichever way you slice it, you’ve got a reduction in the Nationals’ now, which may translate into a permanent reduction if the party can’t win New England back,” he said.
“I can’t say that I admired his decision.
“No one should forget that the party gave Barnaby the chance to be leader and deputy prime minister, which is an honour.”
Responding to Mr Joyce’s confirmation that he would stand for One Nation at the next election, Senator Hanson said on Monday she was “really proud” that he had joined her.
She said she had been “underestimated” her whole career but pushed back against critics of her politics by declaring she wasn’t “going anywhere” and would keep doing what she had always done.
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