December 8, 2025
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said the decision by Barnaby Joyce to join One Nation was “disappointing”.
Mr Joyce confirmed on Monday he would be joining One Nation during an on-air interview with a Tamworth radio station.
The Member for New England, who was interviewed alongside One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson, said he understood people would be hurt by his decision but he had great respect for the work Mrs Hanson had done in “driving the political agenda”.
However, Mr Littleproud said One Nation was “a party of protest, not a party of government”.
“Our regional representatives need to be able to get things done in government and that can only happen as part of a Coalition,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Today, Barnaby’s decision breaks the contract he made with the people of New England at the 2025 Federal Election.
“It is disappointing for the people of New England and disappointing for the loyal National Party members who worked day and night volunteering to support him.
“The Nationals supported Barnaby through many difficult times, including during his darkest moments.
“Barnaby has chosen to turn his back on The Nationals and on his electorate and instead join a party of protest, which is never able to achieve anything other than headlines.
“I have never had a personal issue or problem with Barnaby Joyce.
“This issue is about Barnaby wanting to be the leader of a party.
“The Nationals will continue to fight for regional Australia and work as a team to achieve real outcomes for local communities.”
* * *
In a statement released later on Monday, Mr Joyce said there had been “no more considered and serious decision” than the one he had made to join One Nation.
“It is premised on two main points,” he said.
“Firstly, I believe that for Australia to be properly prepared for the formidable challenges that are before it, both domestically and in our region, we need to go forward with a suite of policies that are not driven by trying to placate sectional interests but rather put Australia first and centre.
“Policy should not be implemented by an attempt to please those whose foremost concern is not the regular Australian family paying the bills.
“Australia has handed away rights we should have kept and taken up obligations we should have left, at a price we cannot pay. Rather, we should have as our goal to make Australia as strong as possible as quickly as possible.
“Our strength comes from our social cohesion, the opportunity for the individual, the breadth and strength of the economy, the efficiency of government, the love of our nation, the centrality of the family and a formidable defence force matching the threats.
“Currently at our centre we have eviscerated our energy platform on a ludicrous quest to change the weather.
“Energy is central to our standard of living, strength of an economy and resilience in defence. We have tried to remove all risks with mountains of regulations that have reduced rights, not improved them.
“We have borrowed beyond our capacity to repay and left the consequences to our children. We have imposed on the rights of the family in deference to the views of the state. We have increased the population through immigration and, by so doing, removed the capacity for Australians to buy a home, have a family and increase our population by our own means.
“We have sought solutions to problems real, overstated, imagined or designed by reducing the rights of the individual, imposing on the role of the family and increasing the power of the state.
“We have fallen for the fallacy that you can have divergent objectives within a population but a common purpose as a nation.
“In trying to remove any perceived offence to any we have, in part, succumbed to being embarrassed about who we are. A nation can have multiple faiths, race and colour but not multiple cultures.
“Australia must bind together under an Australian culture with a common goal to prevail in an increasingly uncertain world. If we are weak there is today the genuine threat that we will lose this incredible blessing which Australia is.
“Secondly, to give my best endeavours to this task I was no longer in the effective position to do this. It is unfortunate, but my professional relationship within The Nationals between myself and the Leadership had become incongruous with me giving my best.
“In the last two months no one has said to me that this breakdown in the relationship was not the case. I had therefore decided to either resign from Parliament or, if choosing to continue, find a more conducive way to achieve the best outcome in pursuing the task that is required to be done.
“I am firmly of the view which I have considered over a long period of time that the best choice before me is to stand for One Nation as a Senator for NSW. I will let the voters be the ultimate arbiter of that decision.”
