Barnaby Joyce is jumping ship from the Nationals but hasn’t confirmed whether he will join right-wing minor party One Nation after rampant speculation over his future.
The twice-deputy prime minister and leader of the rural party announced the move in parliament on Thursday after previously saying he wouldn’t recontest his seat of New England, citing an irreparable breakdown in his relationship with leader David Littleproud.
“After 30 years with the National Party, I’m resigning from the party and that really leaves me with a heavy heart,” he told the lower house in a 90-second statement.
Mr Joyce said he had to find a more effective way to stand up for regional Australians after three decades in the National Party.
But he later told reporters he hadn’t made up his mind on whether to join One Nation.
Mr Joyce hasn’t sat in the Nationals’ party room since announcing in October that he wouldn’t recontest the seat at the 2028 election.
But there is speculation he could run for the Senate on a One Nation ticket and remain in parliament with the minor party soaring in the polls in recent months.
He has said his views align with One Nation’s policy priorities, including rallying against a commitment to a net-zero emissions target that has since been dumped by the coalition.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson stirred controversy on Monday by wearing a burqa in the Senate as she tried to push a private member’s bill to ban the religious garment.
Her stunt and comments about the burqa were widely condemned, and she was subsequently censured and barred from the chamber for seven sitting days.
Hours later, Senator Hanson hosted Mr Joyce for dinner in her office, with photos then circulated of the firebrand senator cooking steaks on a sandwich press.
Mr Joyce’s Nationals’ colleagues had worked for weeks to convince their former leader to stay in the party.