Nationals MP Andrew Broad suggests Liberals could have leaked allegations against Barnaby Joyce

Nationals MP Andrew Broad has stopped short of an accusation but says Libs MP knew of harassment complaint against Barnaby Joyce.

Andrew Broad has suggested the Nationals did not leak the sexual harassment allegation made against Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Kym Smith.

Nationals MP Andrew Broad has linked a Liberal MP to the leak of the woman’s name who made a sexual harassment complaint to party officials against Barnaby Joyce only days before his resignation as leader.

Mr Broad spoke out last night after National Farmers Federation chief Fiona Simson accused the Nationals of the leak, which Mr Joyce had described as the last straw against him.

Former West Australian Rural Woman of the Year Catherine Marriott was revealed on Friday as the woman who had approached the Nationals to make a complaint in confidence.

Mr Broad, who had called for Mr Joyce to step down last week, said in a televised interview last night he was confident his party had not been involved.

“I can pretty confidently say from what I’m hearing, and I’ve been around agricultural circles, and I know of a Liberal MP who had access to that letter when we had not seen it,’’ he told ABC TV.

He said he had spoken to Ms Simson yesterday afternoon and told her she “shouldn’t go off half-cocked”.

“A woman needs to be able to make a complaint and think she can do it in confidence,” Mr Broad, a former NFF board director, said.

He said he had spoken to Nationals president Larry Anthony and believed the party had kept the complaint confidential.

Barnaby Joyce during a press conference in Armidale, New South Wales. Picture: AAP

“I believe the due processes the National Party have held have been very thorough and the leaks have not come from the National Party,” he said.

“It does disappoint me that that confidence has been breached, but I don’t believe it’s been breached by anyone in the National Party executive.”

Pressed again on whether he was blaming the Liberal Party, Mr Broad said: “I’m saying that I was aware that a Liberal MP had access to it. I don’t know.”

Mr Broad declined to name the MP he was referring to.

Yesterday, as tensions over Mr Joyce’s forced resignation simmered, Ms Simson accused the Nationals of leaking Ms Marriott’s complaint, amid a groundswell of support for the respected agribusiness leader on social media from colleagues in the rural sector.

Asked by a journalist whether she had proof that the National Party had leaked the complaint in a bid to blast Mr Joyce out, Ms Simson said: “Of course not — I know none of the details. But if MAZ says she requested that the matter be treated confidentially then I 100% believe her,” she tweeted.

In a statement issued to media at the weekend, Ms Marriott wrote: “On February 20, 2018, I wrote a formal letter of complaint to the Federal Executive of the National party outlining an allegation of sexual harassment against Barnaby Joyce.

“I want to stress that I never intended for this issue to become public. I requested that a formal and confidential investigation into this incident be undertaken by the National Party to ensure there is accountability in relation to the incident I raise, and to prevent this type of inappropriate behaviour towards women in the future,” she wrote.

“This complaint was not made solely to address the incident against me.

“It is about speaking up against inappropriate behaviour by people in powerful positions.”