Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce commented on the talks about him joining Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party a few days after announcing he’s going to leave the Nationals Party.

On Friday, Joyce said he isn’t going to re-contest for the seat of New England in New South Wales and mentioned a breakdown in relations with the Nationals Party leader, David Littleproud. However, now Littleproud says he wants Joyce to stay.

“We have got some big decisions to make, decisions to make around things like net zero, how we address some of those challenges and have a practical solution, not just be part of a protest party,” Littleproud told Channel Nine.

Joyce was the deputy prime minister of Australia during Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison’s terms. In May this year, he was moved to the backbench after he supported Matthew Canavan, Littleproud’s challenger for the leadership of the party. Later in July, he presented the Repeal Net Zero Bill to parliament, to argue the net-zero 2050 goal. Some say it could divide the Coalition on its position on climate change.

Now, he praises One Nation’s, more radical, climate change policies. On ABC Radio this morning, he confirmed talking recently with Pauline Hanson. But he didn’t reveal what they were discussing. He said nothing was locked in and called himself a “free agent”.

“It’s amazing. In a matter of days, I have gone from being a member of One Nation, to apparently leading One Nation, to last night listening on a show about people complaining about my leadership of a party I haven’t even joined,” he told the ABC.

Hanson told the ABC that another Liberal politician is going to defect to her party, but hasn’t disclosed who she was talking about. Senior Nationals MPs told the ABC it might result in a “contagion effect” leading to more Coalition politicians leaving their parties for One Nation. On Friday, Hanson told Seven News she wants Liberals Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to join her party.

“There are people who are coming across to One Nation because they see that there’s no future with the Liberal-National party,” she said.

Support for One Nation has doubled since the federal election in May, now making up 13 percent of the primary vote according to the Guardian Essential poll.

Photo: Senator Barnaby Joyce by Bidgee found HERE and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence. This image has not been modified.