Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has said he's sick of the government and that God was the reason for climate change.
In a 47-second video posted to Twitter on Christmas Eve, the former deputy prime minister said while he believed in climate change, he questioned the government's response to it.
"Now, you don't have to convince me the climate's not changing, it's changing," Mr Joyce said in the video.
"My problem has always been whether a new tax will change it back.
"I just don't want the government any more in my life. I'm sick of the government being in my life."
Merry Christmas pic.twitter.com/QGYPv51pTN
— Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) December 24, 2019
In the video, Mr Joyce can be seen feeding cattle.
Mr Joyce also said in the video that God was behind climate change, and needed to be respected.
"There's a higher authority that's beyond our comprehension, right up there in the sky," he said.
"And unless we understand that that's got to be respected, then we're just fools. We're going to get nailed."
The Twitter message was widely mocked on social media late on Christmas Eve, some calling for Mr Joyce to resign if he was so sick of the government.
Barnaby doing his best “drunk uncle at Christmas” impersonation... oh wait... https://t.co/H5SdH70Ed9
— Sarah Hanson-Young💚 (@sarahinthesen8) December 24, 2019
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young compared the member for New England to a "drunk uncle at Christmas" in a tweet.
Parody videos have emerged on social media in response to the video, one even showing the "higher power" Mr Joyce referred to as Baby Yoda.
— Huw Parkinson (@rabbitandcoffee) December 24, 2019
The video comes as the federal government faced criticism over its climate change policies in response to the bushfire crisis that has engulfed the country.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack said earlier this week that Australia should take more action on climate change.
However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country was doing enough to meet emissions reduction targets.
Mr Morrison has come under fire for taking a holiday to Hawaii while bushfires have ravaged large parts of Australia with close to 1000 homes destroyed. The prime minister cut his holiday short and returned to Sydney after two volunteer firefighters died in NSW.
