Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has announced that he won’t be standing for his lower house seat of New England at the next election and will quit the party, fueling speculation that he’s about to jump ship to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
On Saturday Joyce responded to speculation he was about to switch parties telling the media that he was considering all his options.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who was visiting Joyce New South Wales electorate today for a party event, refused to say if she’d had discussions with Joyce but said he would be welcome in her party.
Sky News were the first to report on a statement Joyce sent to local party members where he said his relationship with the current leadership of the Nationals had broken down and become untenable for him to remain in the party room. Joyce said he was unable to remain in the coalition because of their position on net zero environmental goals.
“Our position in continuing to support Net Zero with the massive schism and hurt to my electorate, to small business, the environment, to the poor, to the defence of Australia and creating hate between lifelong friends in my community makes continuing in the Nationals’ Party Room in Canberra under this policy untenable.” he said.
Joyce also expressed frustration that he had been sidelined during the last federal election and instructed not to campaign outside of his own electorate.
If Joyce switches to One Nation it will give them their first Lower House seat since Hanson held the seat of Blair in Queensland between 1996 and 1998. When Hanson returned to the federal parliament for a second stint she moved to the Upper House.
Joyce first entered the federal parliament in 2004 as a senator for Queensland. At the 2010 election he was re-elected under the amalgamated Liberal National Party banner. As a senator Joyce was known as a maverick who often crossed the floor to vote against government legislation he disagreed with.
When the coalition moved to the Opposition benches after the 2007 election Joyce held a variety of shadow minister positions including Finance Minister and Regional Development, Infrastructure and Water.
At the 2013 election he moved to the Lower House to represent the New South Wales of New England. He served as Minister for Agriculture, when PM Tony Abbott was rolled by Malcolm Turnbull he picked up the extra portfolio of Water Resources. In 2016 he became leader of the Nationals following the retirement of Warren Truss, a position which also made him Deputy Prime Minister.
He was forced to resign from parliament the following year when it was discovered he unknowingly held New Zealand citizenship. He returned to parliament in 2017 following a by-election.
He resigned as leader of the Nationals in 2018 after accusations of sexual harassment. Joyce categorically denied the allegations and the resulting party investigation was unable to make a determination and the associated report was not made public.
In 2021 he served as party leader for a second time when he challenged Michael McCormack. He remained leader until after the 2022 election where he was replaced by current leader David Littleproud. After the 2025 election he was not awarded a shadow minister portfolio and was sent to the backbench.
During his time in parliament Joyce has been at the centre of many controversies and provocative debates.
He’s called for a national debate on the death penalty, although he is personally opposed to it, has argued that schools should be able to ban transgender students, and was a vocal opponent of marriage equality. Earlier this year he called for Australia to follow the lead of US President Donald Trump and declare they are only two genders.
Joyce has presented himself as a family values candidate but in 2017 he announced he had separated from his wife, not long after it was revealed he was expecting a child with his former communication staffer Vikki Campion. The couple had a second child in 2019 and wed in 2023.
