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Barnaby Joyce has announced he will join One Nation, ending weeks of speculation that he would join the party led by Senator Pauline Hanson.
Joyce, who quit the National Party last month, announced the move in a statement posted to social media on Monday, saying he felt he has a lot more to deliver when it comes to policy issues like energy and immigration.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said Joyce’s decision was “disappointing” and labelled One Nation a “party of protest, not a party of government”.
“Today, Barnaby’s decision breaks the contract he made with the people of New England at the 2025 Federal Election,” Littleproud wrote in a statement.
“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.”
In his statement, Joyce said the deterioration of his relationship with Nationals leadership means he sees running as a One Nation candidate for NSW as the best way forward.
“In the last two months no one has said to me that this breakdown in the relationship was not the case,” Joyce, the MP for the seat of New England, wrote on social media.
In a recent statement, Barnaby Joyce reflected on his future in Parliament, contemplating whether to resign or continue his political journey in a way that would be more effective in fulfilling his responsibilities. His decision is fueled by a desire to find the most productive path forward in his political career.
Alongside his announcement, Joyce shared images capturing a moment with Pauline Hanson at the Tamworth saleyards in northeastern New South Wales. The photos, posted on Facebook, depict both figures wearing checkered shirts, symbolizing their political camaraderie in this new endeavor.
Littleproud said Joyce had “chosen to turn his back on the Nationals and on his electorate” to join a party which would “never be 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.
In a statement, Hanson said Joyce will sit in the House of Representatives for the rest of the parliamentary term as a One Nation MP, before leading the party’s Senate ticket for NSW in the 2028 federal election.
She said Joyce would strengthen One Nation, “just as many Australians are strengthening our position in the polls”.
“I have always been very straightforward about asking Mr Joyce to join our team, and on making it clear this was always his decision,” Hanson said.
Joyce started his political career as a senator for Queensland in 2013, before moving to the lower house.
“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,” Joyce wrote. “I will let the voters be the ultimate arbiter of that decision.”
Joyce — who led the Nationals from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 222 — announced last month he would leave the party after being relegated to the backbench following the May federal election. He said his relationship with party leadership had broken down.
What followed was speculation he would move to One Nation after revealing he spoke with Hanson, which was furthered after he was seen dining with Hanson at Parliament House over a steak cooked on a sandwich press.
Recent polling shows the number of people planning to put One Nation first on their ballot paper is at an all-time high, with surveys putting support for the party between 14 and 18 per cent.
One Nation also doubled its Senate presence at the May federal election, increasing from two seats to four after electing three senators, with a fourth already serving a continuing term.
Joyce will be the first member of One Nation to sit in the lower house since Hanson herself in the late 1990s.
