Coalition Faces Fracture as Barnaby Joyce Walks Out on Nationals
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Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce ended his decades-long relationship with the National Party on Monday, declaring he would no longer attend party room meetings in Canberra and leaving open the possibility of defecting to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
The dramatic split threatens to destabilize the Coalition just months before a federal election, with Joyce telling Sky News his relationship with Nationals leader David Littleproud had become “beyond repair.” The veteran New England MP confirmed he spoke with Hanson for five to 10 minutes Sunday night but refused to detail their conversation beyond saying “there was a few laughs.”
“I won’t be sort of involved with the National Party at a political level in Canberra,” Joyce told Sky News. “The next thing is, well, what are you going to do next? Leave that one up to me. I’ll make my decision in my time. I’m now, as I say, a free agent.”
Joyce’s departure comes as the Nationals conduct an internal review of their commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 — a target Joyce signed onto as Deputy Prime Minister under Scott Morrison but now opposes. His exit leaves the former party leader in political limbo with three options: remain a National Party member in exile, sit as an independent, or join One Nation.
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The crisis prompted immediate responses from across the political spectrum. Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson called Joyce “a warrior for the people he represents” during a Monday morning Sky News interview and said she hoped he might reconsider.
“He is much loved,” Henderson said. “I do hope, and there’s a sliver of hope, I do hope that he might reconsider. Barnaby, I would love to see him stay in the coalition because no matter what position he occupies, people listen to Barnaby.”
Henderson acknowledged the broader challenge facing the Coalition after the Liberals’ worst defeat in 81 years at the May election. “We’ve got to build a stronger coalition of both Liberal and Nationals, and that means rebuilding the faith and trust in Australians,” she said.
Littleproud maintained the door remained open for Joyce to return, telling Sky News the party would soon hold policy discussions on net zero that he believed Joyce would want to join.
“The ball’s in his court,” Littleproud said. “If he wants to be part of the party room, nothing’s changed. We’re going to have some policy discussions that I thought he would probably want to be part of in the near future.”
The Nationals leader defended the party’s deliberative approach to climate policy, saying the review process aimed to produce stronger arguments than rushing to judgment. “We’re going to take our time and get it right, like we did with the voice, because then that makes your case to prosecute a lot easier, rather than just being a protest party yelling from outside the room,” Littleproud said.
He emphasized the party’s internal culture of equality. “No one in the National Party has a higher status than anyone else,” Littleproud said. “When you walk into that room, we’re all equal. That’s our culture. We’re a bit different to the other parties.”
When pressed about whether Joyce might share confidential party room discussions with One Nation, Littleproud expressed confidence. “I don’t think you would ever see Barnaby Joyce do that,” he said. “I don’t think he’s that sort of bloke.”
Hanson has spent a year recruiting Joyce as part of a broader strategy to poach Coalition members. She publicly named Joyce, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Colin Boyce on a recruitment wish list. Only Queensland Senator Matt Canavan, another conservative figure linked to One Nation, ruled out joining, saying it was “the Nationals or bust.”
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, predicted mixed reactions to Joyce’s departure during his interview about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Washington.
“There’ll be mixed views about him leaving,” Turnbull said. “Some people will say, well, that disrupts the Nationals. Others will say, well, it’s better to have him out of the room.”
Turnbull, who experienced significant friction with Joyce during his prime ministership, called him “a pretty disruptive influence wherever he’s been.” He suggested Joyce’s addition might strengthen One Nation, particularly in Queensland, where the Liberal National Party has historically worried about being outflanked on the right.
“Certainly the Queensland Nationals, the LNP, have always been very anxious about being outflanked on the right,” Turnbull said. “In fact, they’ve been more anxious about that than they are about their political rivals on the left, like the Labor Party.”
Turnbull argued the conservative side of politics needed to unite. “Anthony Albanese is a very skilful politician, but the damage that his opponents are doing to themselves must make him wonder how he could be so lucky,” he said.
Opposition Leader Susan Ley, delivering a major economic policy speech to the Centre for Independent Studies on Monday, said she called Joyce to check in but declined to provide details beyond describing it as contact between longtime parliamentary colleagues.
“The issues that you have described are matters for the National Party, not the Liberal Party,” Ley told reporters when asked about Joyce’s planned departure. “I’m always very careful when it’s a matter between the Nationals and the Liberals to stay carefully in my lane and not give gratuitous advice across the coalition divide.”
Ley used the speech to announce the Coalition would take personal income tax cuts to the next election, targeting low and middle-income earners. She pledged every dollar saved from opposing Labor spending would go toward tax relief or budget repair.
The timing of Joyce’s exit complicates the Coalition’s efforts to present a unified front. Ley has faced internal challenges since becoming Liberal leader after the May election defeat, including a split and subsequent reunification with the Nationals, and the departures of Nampijinpa Price and Andrew Hastie to the backbench.
Joyce’s status as a two-time Deputy Prime Minister and former Nationals leader gives his departure significant symbolic weight. His populist style and ability to connect with regional voters made him a powerful voice within conservative politics, even as his personal controversies generated headlines.
The National Party now faces pressure to complete its net zero review while managing the fallout from Joyce’s exit. The policy working group, led by Coalition energy spokesman Dan Tehan, must balance competing demands from members who support the 2050 target and those who want to abandon it.
Political observers noted Joyce’s departure could accelerate defections if other conservative MPs conclude the Nationals are moving too far toward the center on climate policy. The review process has exposed deep divisions within the party over emissions targets that Joyce himself endorsed as Deputy Prime Minister in 2021.
Joyce told Sky News he remained a Nationals MP as of Monday morning but would not attend party room meetings when Parliament resumes. His refusal to commit to a timeline for his final decision leaves the Coalition in extended uncertainty heading toward an election that must be held by May 2026.
The veteran politician’s declaration that he “decided to remove the middleman” by calling Hanson directly signaled his willingness to bypass traditional Coalition structures. His description of himself as “a free agent” suggested he saw his political future as independent of party constraints.
Henderson’s comments on Sky News reflected concern about potential cascading defections. When asked whether others might follow Joyce, she declined to speculate but acknowledged the Coalition faced “a big job to do to win back the faith and trust of all Australians.”
The Nationals leader’s office indicated the party would proceed with scheduled meetings and policy discussions regardless of Joyce’s attendance. Littleproud emphasized the importance of maintaining focus on fighting for Australian families rather than internal disputes.
Joyce’s political career has survived previous controversies, including resignations from the deputy prime ministership in 2018 and 2021. Whether his latest gambit represents a genuine break or another chapter in his turbulent relationship with the Nationals remains unclear as he weighs his options in what he called his own time.
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