Barnaby Joyce says he obeyed Tony Abbott’s order to withdraw from Q&A out of “deference to the prime minister” but would have liked to have been told sooner about the ban on frontbenchers appearing on the ABC program.
In comments that appear to suggest a robust conversation with the prime minister late on Sunday, the agriculture minister said ministers were required to take such instructions “on the chin”.
“If you can’t take it on the chin, you’re in the wrong job,” he told guests at a National Press Club lunch in Canberra on Monday after a speech to promote the agricultural competitiveness white paper.
“I mean, how much do you want to put on the line for a television program? This [white paper] is important. This is what people sent me down to Canberra to do. To make sure I get this done and get it through and it’s an incredible honour to be able to do something like that – an incredible honour – but hand in glove with that honour is you must stay there and see it through, see it delivered, see it hit the ground running.”
Joyce said while “no threat was made” during the conversation, the minister felt obliged to obey the request, likening it to following orders in the army where “an instruction is an instruction and that’s what happens”.
“The prime minister of Australia is precisely that: the prime minister of Australia, and it is by deference to the prime minister that when an instruction comes through that it’s obeyed; otherwise the whole process of cabinet becomes chaotic,” he said.
“Do I think it would have good to know about it a bit earlier? Yes, that would have been nice. But that’s life. You take it on the chin.”
Joyce received the instruction after he was interviewed on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning during which he reaffirmed his plans to appear on Q&A.
Pressed on what the consequences would have been if he had defied the prime minister’s order, Joyce said: “No threat was made; no threat was made.”
He said: “This shouldn’t be so fascinating. If you get an instruction from the prime minister it’s like getting an instruction from your CO in the army. You don’t say, ‘Oh look, I’ll come back to you on that’. An instruction is an instruction and that’s what happens, and that’s it. He’s made an instruction that until the processes of the review at the ABC is properly concluded that he doesn’t want people from cabinet on Q&A. That’s the instruction. It’s not a case of alternative A or alternative B.”
The managing director of the ABC, Mark Scott, said on Twitter Joyce’s absence was a “missed opportunity” for the agriculture minister.
That instruction means a missed opportunity for @Barnaby_Joyce to discuss the Ag White Paper in front of a million people who watch the show
— Mark Scott (@mscott) July 6, 2015
Joyce would not give an opinion on whether Malcolm Turnbull should proceed with a scheduled appearance on next week’s Q&A episode, saying the minister would speak for himself.
It may be several months before Coalition frontbenchers appear on Q&A again. The prime minister’s office has decreed that no frontbenchers can appear on the program until the independent review by broadcaster Ray Martin and former SBS managing director Shaun Brown is completed. It is expected to take several months.
Q&A had drafted in the internationally renowned economist Satyajit Das to replace Joyce, but Das subsequently was unable to take up the offer. He was then replaced by Vrasidas Karalis, professor of modern Greek at the University of Sydney.
The other four panellists on Monday’s program are the Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters, Labor’s immigration spokesman Richard Marles, Trisha Jha from the Centre for Independent Studies and the Australian’s foreign editor, Greg Sheridan.
An ABC source said producers would continue to invite Liberal frontbenchers on each week, despite the apparent boycott.
Joyce is the second frontbencher to cancel an appearance on the panel since the appearance of former terrorism suspect Zaky Mallah on the program two weeks ago sparked the anger of the government.
A spokesman for the ABC said Q&A host Tony Jones would address the boycott by the Liberals during the program. The presence of Sheridan is also likely to spark a discussion about News Corp’s sustained campaign against the ABC, which has now entered its third week.
The Australian has published dozens of articles critical of Q&A and the ABC since the 22 June episode when a provocative comment by Mallah was aired.
The ABC apologised immediately for allowing Mallah to ask a question live to air, but the government ordered a snap inquiry into what had led to his invitation to join the audience.
The ABC board issued a formal warning to Q&A executive producer Peter McEvoy for failing to consult on Mallah’s involvement in the broadcast.
The prime minister’s parliamentary secretary, Alan Tudge, was the first frontbencher to withdraw and was joined by News Corp columnist Nick Cater, who also pulled out because of Mallah.
