Maverick former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce will sit on the crossbench as an independent MP for the rest of this term, revealing he remains open to a Senate tilt with One Nation at the next election.
Mr Joyce had raised expectations he would announce his defection to the minor party led by Pauline Hanson at the end of the parliament sitting week, but on Thursday would only confirm his official departure from the Nationals after 30 years as a member, including a more than two-decade stint as both a senator and MP.
Speaking in parliament, Mr Joyce said he was resigning from the Nationals with a “heavy heart,” apologising for the “hurt” his decision would cause.
He took aim at Nationals leader David Littleproud and deputy Kevin Hogan for what he said was a lack of communication since he first flagged he would not recontest his NSW seat of New England for the party at the next election due in 2028.
Mr Littleproud described Mr Joyce’s defection to the crossbench as “disappointing” and said it broke the “contract” he had made with voters in New England at the 2025 election.
“The Nationals supported Barnaby through the tough times, including during his darkest moments,” he said.
Responding to Mr Joyce’s accusations around a lack of communication, Mr Littleproud said he had always wanted his colleague to stay in the party room.
“Barnaby made it clear to me he wanted time and space to consider his future and asked me to respect that,” he said.
“I respected that request but made sure my public statements reflected my desire for him to stay.”
The former Nationals leader said his final decision to officially quit the party was because he had been relegated to the “ejection” seat on the backbench.
Mr Joyce later clarified he would sit on the crossbench as an independent MP for the remainder of this term and was “strongly considering” a tilt in the Senate representing One Nation after that.
“Thirty years in the National Party — it’s certainly not a decision I took lightly,” he said.
“It’s not as if I fell over the first hurdle.
“I’ve been … trying to work a way through this for a long period of time.
“There seemed no real resolution to the breakdown in the relationship, and therefore the smartest thing to do is move on.”
Barnaby Joyce announces his resignation from the party in the House of Representatives. (Supplied)
Mr Joyce said he believed it would be “really hard” for the Coalition to win the next election and criticised those focused on winning back inner-city seats from teal independents.
“One of the problems I think there has been in the Coalition is all the time we said, ‘We’ve got to win back teal seats,'” he said.
“And what was happening? People, especially regionally, they say, ‘If that’s what you want to focus on, we’re gone.'”
Mr Joyce said a move to the Senate would be more about the higher chance of influencing bills passing through the chamber than the policies of One Nation.
“I think it’s the appeal also of the Senate, of just reviewing and amending legislation, and you would have to come to me on each legislation,” he said.
“I’ve done the Senate before.”
His colleagues had made multiple last-minute appeals for him to remain in the Nationals, with former leadership rival Michael McCormack saying Mr Joyce owed it to “his legacy” and the party to stay.
“I’ve made my pitch to him,” Mr McCormack said.
In October Mr Joyce told his supporters he intended to quit the Nationals, would not run in New England at the next election and was “free to now consider all options”.
This fuelled speculation he was considering defecting to One Nation, a possibility seemingly supported by his decision to dine with the party’s leader, Pauline Hanson, in Canberra earlier this week.
Asked about his possible switch to the party on Tuesday, Ms Hanson said she thought he would bring a lot of experience to her team.
But she said the final decision had to be “up to Barnaby”.
Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce had dinner in Senator Hanson’s office earlier this week. (Supplied)
Mr Joyce first entered parliament in 2004 when he was elected as a senator in Queensland for the Nationals.
He resigned from the Senate in 2013 to contest the seat of New England, where he has remained the MP, barring a short stint when he was ruled ineligible to sit in parliament due to his dual New Zealand citizenship.
Mr Joyce was elected leader of the Nationals and became deputy prime minister in 2016 before he was forced to resign two years later after his relationship with former staffer Vikki Campion, who is now his wife, triggered a public backlash.
He returned to the Nationals leadership and as deputy PM in 2021, and was replaced by current leader David Littleproud after the Coalition lost the 2022 federal election.
Since then, Mr Joyce has mostly occupied the backbench, a position he has not enjoyed.
Earlier this week, he said he did not like being “stuck down the back in a corner”.
“I’m a front row forward, and front row forwards want to be in the middle of the ruck, and that’s where I like to play,” he told 2GB on Tuesday.
“If I’m staying in politics, that’s where I am going to play … otherwise you get out.”
