‘Is it about himself?’: Barnaby Joyce faces party backlash over One Nation ‘circus’ push
Nationals senator Matt Canavan has delivered a scathing attack on Barnaby Joyce's potential defection to One Nation, asking whether the move serves ‘the Australian people, or is it about himself?’
Nationals senator Matt Canavan was “the only one” who could have convinced Barnaby Joyce to stay in the party, allies of the former deputy prime minister say, with several of his colleagues predicting he would join One Nation in the near future.
Mr Joyce has been flagging for weeks that he was considering defecting to Pauline Hanson’s party, but the launch of a parliamentary workplace investigation into allegations he yelled at a Nationals staffer and recent comments from his colleagues have made the New England MP feel increasingly unwelcome in his party.
One of his close allies, Senator Canavan, delivered a blistering critique of Mr Joyce’s indication he would leave the Nationals, questioning whether the move was “about the Australian people, or is it about himself?”.
“I mean, come on, Barnaby, do you really want to go and join the circus, or do you want to stay in a real team that’s really focused on delivering change?” Senator Canavan told Sky News.
“Barnaby signed up to net zero when he was deputy prime minister,” Canavan said. “Barnaby agreed to the Paris Agreement when he was a senior cabinet minister in a Coalition government.
“He did that because he knew that being part of this broader team was what was the best thing to deliver outcomes for the people we fight for and represent. It’s only now that he’s trying to jump ship.”
Another senior Nationals senator, Ross Cadell, also derided Mr Joyce’s recent behaviour, including attending a dinner with Senator Hanson in her suite that was photographed and shared with media outlets.
“If he wants to sit on the benches with someone who wears a burka in parliament, he diminishes himself,” Senator Cadell told The Australian.
He said if he were “a betting man”, he would put his money on Mr Joyce “wearing orange come next campaign”.
Senator Hanson donned a burka in the Senate on Monday in protest at the attire, which she said presented national security risks, in a move that saw her censured from parliament.
Allies of Mr Joyce, who has held the Nationals leadership on several occasions, have pointed out he one of the party’s lead fundraisers and have questioned how his exit would impact resourcing of the Nationals.
Other key Nationals fundraisers include Senator Canavan, Senator leader Bridget McKenzie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who defected to the Liberals this year.
“Matt (Canavan) was probably the only one that could have talked him out of not leaving,” a Nationals source said.
Mr Joyce’s allies said they had hoped Sussan Ley’s dumping of net zero would keep him in the Coalition, but said the treatment of Mr Joyce by his colleagues was “forcing him out”.
Several Nationals MPs disagreed with that sentiment, telling The Australian “no one can force Barnaby to do anything”, and saying “if he wants us to get all the way down on bended knee to get him to stay, it’s clear he’s not really in it”.
Senator Hanson – who doubled One Nation’s numbers in the Senate at the last election – said she would welcome Mr Joyce into her party. “I think he has experience in a wide range of issues,” she told reporters in Canberra. “We agree totally about net zero. Getting rid of net zero and getting rid of the Paris Agreement, I think that is so important.
“His experience with immigration. I think there’s a lot of things that we agree on.
“We’ll see what happens. There’s still a final decision. It has to be up to Barnaby.”
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