Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce speaks to the media. Photo: Phat Nguyen/ AAP.
Maverick MP Barnaby Joyce has spoken with One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson as he weighs up a move to the far-right party after a breakdown in his relationship with the Nationals.
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RURAL ROOTS
* Joyce, 58, was one of six children born in Tamworth and raised on a sheep and cattle farm in rural NSW's New England district
* He graduated with a Bachelor of Financial Administration from the University of New England in 1989 where he met his wife Natalie, with whom he had four children
* Employed as a farm worker, nightclub bouncer and banker before setting up accountancy firm Barnaby Joyce & Co in Queensland in 1999
POLITICAL CAREER
* Elected as a Nationals senator for Queensland in 2004
* Crossed the floor 28 times and was quickly branded a ‘maverick’ for refusing to guarantee support for his own government’s policies
* Joyce stopped crossing the floor when he became a minister and was duty-bound to side with the government
* He resigned from the Senate before the 2013 election and contested the lower house seat of New England, which he won, and gained the agriculture ministry and deputy leadership of the Nationals
* The High Court ruled Joyce was ineligible to sit in parliament in 2016 after it was revealed he was a dual citizen of New Zealand, triggering a by-election
* He won back his seat in 2017 after surrendering his New Zealand citizenship
SCANDALS
Barnaby Joyce and partner Vikki Campion. Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP.
* The day after he returned to parliament, Joyce confirmed long-running rumours his marriage with Natalie had ended
* Months later, News Corp revealed Joyce was expecting a baby with former staffer Vikki Campion
* Joyce confirmed Campion as his partner but denied she was working in his office or he breached the ministerial code of conduct forbidding frontbenchers employing relatives or partners without approval
* Frustrated with Joyce’s handling of his personal and political life, then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull issued a ‘bonk ban’ on ministers to prevent relationships with their advisers
* Joyce resigned as leader of the Nationals in February 2018 amid calls for him to quit
* He returned as leader in 2021 after defeating Michael McCormack in a leadership spill, but lost to David Littleproud during a challenge in 2022
* In February 2024 footage emerged of Mr Joyce swearing and mumbling into his phone while lying on his back in a Canberra street
* He later explained he mixed prescription medication and alcohol
* Months later Mr Joyce told Sunrise he lost 15kg after giving up drinking
* He faced calls to resign as opposition veterans’ affairs spokesman after he compared ballot papers to bullets at a protest against wind farms in July 2024
* Joyce announced on Saturday, October 25 he would leave the Nationals because his relationship with the leadership had “irreparably broken down”
* He confirmed he had spoken with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as rumours swirled he would defect to the far-right party
* Joyce insisted on Monday, October 27 that “nothing is locked in”
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