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‘Irreparably broken’: Barnaby Joyce quits Nationals and will not contest the seat at the next election
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‘Irreparably broken’: Barnaby Joyce quits Nationals and will not contest the seat at the next election

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Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has quit the party, citing fractured relations with its leadership.
The high-profile New England lawmaker will not run for his seat in the next election, but plans to serve out the remainder of the term.
“My relationship with the Nationals leadership in Canberra has unfortunately, like the sadness in some marriages, broken down beyond repair,” the former deputy prime minister wrote in a letter to department members.
Reports that the firebrand MP plans to defect to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation were not confirmed in the statement, but his options have been kept open.

“I am now free to consider all options for what I do next,” he said.

Joyce was demoted from the party’s front bench by current leader David Littleproud earlier this year.

“Our position in continuing to support net zero with the massive schism and pain it has caused my electorate, small businesses, the environment, the poor, Australia’s defense and the creation of hatred between lifelong friends in my community makes the continuation of this policy in the Nationals’ Party Room in Canberra untenable.”

Both the Liberals and Nationalists have announced revisions to their net zero policies, which are still underway.
The move by the Nationals leadership to instruct Joyce not to campaign outside his electorate during the last federal election was also criticized by the veteran MP.
Conservative NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was fell from the front seat in September after refusing to apologize for controversial comments about Indian migrants.

‘Friend, fellow fighter and courageous conservative’

National Party Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie said today was “a sad day for both me and our great party”.
“I consider Barnaby a friend, a fellow fighter and a courageous Conservative in federal parliament as a member of The Nationals,” she said in a social media post.
‘We have fought many battles together and had our own fierce policy debates.

“Throughout all of this, I have found Barnaby to be a man of faith and passions, and I regard him as a leader with a deep and abiding love and patriotism for our country.”

Barnaby Joyce and Bridget McKenzie are captured in a moment of shared laughter, looking happily at each other.

National Senate leader Bridget McKenzie said Barnaby Joyce leading the party in both houses and serving as deputy prime minister was “no small achievement”. Source: Facebook / Senator Bridget McKenzie

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the coalition is “more divisive and divided than ever”.

“You know the coalition is bad when even Barnaby Joyce doesn’t want to be part of it,” he said.

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