Oakeshott cranky at revelation of cabinet talks with Iemma

ROB Oakeshott began the week sporting a broad grin and displaying a verbosity that brought the nation to a standstill on Tuesday.

Independent member for Lyne Rob Oakeshott at his Port Macquarie electorate office in NSW. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

ROB Oakeshott began the week sporting a broad grin and displaying a verbosity that brought the nation to a standstill on Tuesday.

By yesterday, he was cranky.

Mr Oakeshott was clearly upset at a report in The Australian yesterday that he had sought a ministerial position from former NSW Labor premier Morris Iemma.

Instead of an unequivocal denial, however, he continued to insist he could not recall such a conversation - a line dismissed as "rubbish" by Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce.

"I don't have any recollection of any conversation," Mr Oakeshott said at a media conference where he announced he would not be entering the Gillard government.

"It's totally irrelevant. If I wanted to be a minister (in the NSW government) I would have stayed in the National Party. I was a shadow minister, I would have hidden in the comfort of the political party."

He suggested the story was being given currency by Labor's "faceless men" and challenged them to put their names to the suggestion he had fished around for a cabinet spot in October 2007, when he was still state MP for the seat of Port Macquarie.

Several were prepared to do precisely that.

"He raised it with me," Mr Iemma told The Weekend Australian. "There was nothing sinister about it, and it was no secret at the time. A number of people knew about it, so I can confirm it was discussed."

One of those people was former NSW treasurer Michael Costa, who confirmed that Mr Iemma had indicated to him he was having discussions with Mr Oakeshott about a ministry.

"He discussed it with me and I told him I was absolutely opposed to it," Mr Costa told The Weekend Australian. "I thought it was a dumb idea."

A third NSW state MP, an independent, confirmed Mr Iemma had spoken to him at the time about the discussions.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Oakeshott told The Weekend Australian the story was "bullshit" and accused this newspaper of running "an agenda" against him.

It also emerged yesterday Mr Oakeshott had been involved in talks about joining the Liberal Party, three years after quitting the Nationals to become an independent. However, that approach came from the opposite direction.

It is understood former state opposition leader John Brogden floated the idea with Mr Oakeshott, with whom he was on close terms, in 2005.

Mr Oakeshott dismissed the proposal.

Senator Joyce said yesterday the report in The Australian showed Mr Oakeshott was not "an impartial discerner" when considering which of the two major parties he would back to form a federal minority government.

"This would clearly suggest that Mr Oakeshott was not telling us all the facts when he was going through his deliberations," he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAP