Tony Windsor eyes by-election if Barnaby Joyce forced out

Tony Windsor will not rule out contesting the seat of New England if Barnaby Joyce’s election is deemed ­invalid.

Tony Windsor: ‘I’ll be watching this. The ­issues on which I stood last time have gone from bad to worse.’ Picture: Marlon Dalton

Barnaby Joyce’s political nemesis Tony Windsor will not rule out contesting the northern NSW seat of New England if the Deputy Prime Minister’s election is deemed ­invalid by the High Court.

Mr Windsor, a former independent who held the seat from 2001 to 2013 and supported Julia Gillard’s minority government, yesterday said he did not want to “rule things out” in the event of a by-election.

“I’ll be watching this. The ­issues on which I stood last time have gone from bad to worse,” he told ABC TV.

“I think one of the things we all have to look at ... is the long term. And Mr Joyce is the master of the minute. He’s a short-term politician who preys on people’s immediate fears.”

If Mr Joyce is found to be in­eligible, the Nationals leader is likely to finalise the renouncement of his New Zealand citizenship and seek a return to parliament by winning back his seat.

There have been other cases in which MPs who have been disqualified from parliament have successfully won their seats back. Liberal Jackie Kelly was elected twice to the western Sydney seat of Lindsay in 1996 — once at the general election on March 2 and a second time at a by-election on October 19 after she was disqualified over a failure to renounce her New Zealand citizenship.

Sydney University constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey warned that the government would be weakened if Mr Joyce were disqualified. “It would be vulnerable in terms of its major­ity,” she said.

“It could prorogue parliament. That’s a legitimate thing to do in those circumstances ... waiting until you’ve got full membership of parliament before you vote on confidence.”

Should Mr Joyce be disqualified by the High Court, it will take more than a month for a by-election to be called — a period during which the government’s authority in the lower house would be challenged by Labor.

The average time between a vacancy opening in the House of Representatives and a by-election is 47 days.

The minimum time ­between the issuing of a writ by the Speaker for the election of a new member and polling day is 33 days.

The longest time between the issuing of a writ and polling day is 82 days. Mr Joyce’s case was referred to the High Court yesterday; it is uncertain when a decision will be made.

Government sources would not confirm what steps Mr Joyce had taken to renounce his New Zealand citizenship but they said he had “commenced the process”.

The “process” is aimed at ­ensuring he is no longer viewed by New Zealand as a citizen — a separate issue as to whether Australian law should also recognise Mr Joyce as a New Zealand ­citizen.