Barnaby Joyce hits campaign trail in New England after disqualification from parliament

Citizen Barnaby Joyce immediately hit the campaign trail today after his disqualification from federal parliament.

Barnaby Joyce speaks to media in Tamworth shortly after the High Court decision. Photo: Peter Lorimer.

Citizen Barnaby Joyce immediately hit the campaign trail after his disqualification from federal parliament, declaring he wanted the chance to continue working for the electorate of New England in NSW.

Mr Joyce said he would relinquish his posts as Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister.

“I’m just Barnaby,” he said, adding that he needed to be endorsed by the National Party before he could call himself a candidate in the forthcoming by-election.

Mr Joyce said he respected the decision of the High Court that his dual New Zealand citizenship had made him ineligible at the time of last year’s federal election.

“I was always apprehensive,” he said of the citizenship case.

“Some people say I am a natural pessimist … I was always prepared for this outcome.”

Mr Joyce would not buy into the prospect of a rematch on the hustings with his political nemesis, former MP Tony Windsor, or that their ill-spirited rivalry would continue where it left off at last year if Mr Windsor ran again.

How the seat of New England is placed ahead of the by-election.

Asked about personal innuendo that had appeared in the media, Mr Joyce said: ‘I am disappointed about that. I am not going to participate in that.”

If Mr Windsor nominates, he will join a cluttered field set to include the ALP, Greens, One Nation, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and other independents for the December 2 by election.

Mr Joyce was comfortably re-elected in 2016 on a vote of 58.5 per cent after preferences, 17 points clear of Mr Windsor.

Recent polling shows that he continues to head Mr Windsor, who is yet to say whether he will stand in the by-election.