WA Nationals leader Mia Davies keeps mum on role in Joyce saga

The WA Nationals leader has refused to explain the role she played in facilitating an allegation against Barnaby Joyce.

Nationals president Larry Anthony. Picture: Gary Ramage.

West Australian Nationals leader Mia Davies has refused to explain the role she played in ensuring that an allegation of sexual harassment against Barnaby Joyce was formalised last week, a move that triggered his resignation as the party’s federal leader.

Ms Davies declined to answer questions yesterday about whether she had encouraged respected pastoral leader Catherine Marriott, who she knows professionally, to make a written complaint against Mr Joyce to the Nationals’ federal executive.

The allegation had been known in political and rural circles for some time but was only sent to the National Party at the same time Mr Joyce was fighting for his political life after the scandal over his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion.

Mr Joyce said last week he had asked for the allegation by Ms Marriott, a former West Australian Rural Woman of the Year, to be referred to police. He said the allegation had led him to decide he could not remain Nationals leader and deputy prime minister.

The Australian understands Nationals federal president Larry Anthony first heard of the allegation against Mr Joyce while he was attending the WA Nationals state council meeting on Saturday, February 17, at Bindoon, on the outskirts of Perth.

Three days later Ms Marriott wrote to the Nationals federal executive to complain she was sexually harassed by Mr Joyce.

On the same day Ms Davies went public with an extraordinary call for Mr Joyce to resign, citing the “ongoing damage” caused by his actions.

The lawyer representing Ms Marriott said the claim against Mr Joyce was broader than first thought. “The complaint made by our client related to an allegation of both sexual harassment and/or sexual misconduct,” lawyer Emma Salerno told the ABC.

Mr Anthony said yesterday he was told of the sexual harassment claim against Mr Joyce by Ms ­Davies, WA Nationals deputy leader Jacqui Boydell as well as a former party leader — believed to be veteran MP Terry Redman.

He said he had asked for the complaint to be made in writing because it was the only way he could investigate the claim.

“I said to them, ‘well, if this is a substantial complaint then it needs to be put in writing’,” he said.

Mr Anthony said he had many calls from other MPs in the past week telling him about the issue.

“Many people contacted me well before this came, who knew this individual, who knew the allegations,” he said. “It wasn’t as if this was a secret. It was well known by the WA National Party.”

Mr Anthony rejected suggestions that Ms Marriott was induced to make an official complaint about Mr Joyce to put further pressure on him to resign.

“I have been his (Joyce’s) supporter for a very long time here, but when you have very serious ­allegations that are put to me by the leadership of another division, how am I meant to investigate it? They were looking for me to take action,” he said.

Mr Anthony told Sky News that the only people within the Nationals executive who knew the details of the complaint were himself, the party’s legal counsel and its federal director.

The Australian understands Gold Coast solicitor Bernard Ponting is the Nationals’ legal counsel. Mr Ponting declined to comment yesterday.

Additional reporting: Joe Kelly