Barnaby Joyce has officially resigned from the National Party after 30 years, making a statement this afternoon to the House of Representatives.
I know nothing about politics, but I will do my best to explain what’s gone down for you. Don’t get me wrong, I take voting in elections VERY SERIOUSLY, and do heaps of research on who stands for what. But the backstabby goings-on of parliament? All the formal stuff? No idea.
So Joyce, who to me is “that politician who wears a big hat and isn’t Bob Katter“, did this extremely tight, 90-second mic drop to the House of Reps, part of which was this spicy morsel: “After 30 years with the National Party, I am resigning. Apart from a 92-second phone conversation with the leader, I’ve had no communication with either the leader of the National Party or the deputy leader of the National Party to try and resolve this, and that’s disappointing.” OOF.
One major rumour was that he’d head over to One Nation, and he’s addressed that, saying he’s “considering” running for One Nation in the Senate. “I’m certainly considering it. Okay, strongly considering it,” he told reporters. “In the House, especially if you’re sort of on the outer, you’re not relevant, you’re just a discordant voice. In the Senate, you’ve got more capacity in the committee system, and also the numbers I reckon in the Senate will be tighter after the election.”
I don’t really know what any of that means, but what I do know is that Joyce was a face, if not the face, of The Nationals, so for him to leave is major. Also – tea!!! Political tea!!! Joyce has also told reporters that Peter Dutton asked him to leave the National Party twice. Well, it sounds like political tea to me.
Anyway, he did say that the current Liberal Party leader, Sussan Ley, has not asked him to leave, but that the decision came after his relationship with the Nationals’ leadership broke down. “I’ve been trying to work my way through this for a long period of time,” he told reporters. “There seemed to be no real resolution to the breakdown in the relationship, and therefore, the smartest thing to do is move on.” He went on to say, “You’ve just got to get to a point where you either live in sort of bitter recrimination … or you get out of it”.
Joyce has, understandably, been accosted by reporters outside the House of Reps, so there are plenty more political tidbits to report. He was asked about the future of the Coalition (that’s the Nationals and the Liberal party, I did know that), and he reckons it’ll be difficult for them to win the next election. Tell us how you really feel, Barnaby!
I’d also like to note that Barnaby Joyce doesn’t seem to wear big hats a lot anymore.
Image Credit: Getty Images / Sam Mooy.
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