Barnaby Joyce, a man best known for being extraordinarily red and also being involved in a sordid sex scandal, has popped his head about the parapets again, telling ABC Radio National that he is the “elected deputy prime minister of Australia” and would have no guilt in putting his hand up for that job again if a spill were to happen.
He said he has no intention of calling said spill – despite speculation – but if one happened, he’d definitely be throwing his hat in the ring.
I am not going to call a spill, I am not looking for numbers. If there was a spill and the position’s vacant, I am the elected deputy prime minister of Australia, so I’d have no guilt at all in standing, but I don’t see that happening.
His comments came in tandem with an interview in The Australian where he demanded more taxpayer investment in coal, and for Scott Morrison to promise a new coal-fired power plant if the Coalition is returned to government in this year’s election.
This is in direct contravention of current leader Michael McCormack‘s public statements – he says that we should only build a new coal-fired power station “if the business case stacks up.”
So, it’s fair to say that Barnaby is on something of a warpath today.
“I support a coal-fired power station in central Queensland because the people of central Queensland have a vastly different view of the world to the people of Melbourne,” Joyce told the Oz.
The vibe conveyed by both the Radio National and Australian interviews is that while a spill is extremely unlikely to occur before the election – though the ABC reports that MPs are not ruling it out – it’s almost guaranteed if the Coalition loses the election. Which it looks like they probably will.
Of course, at that point it’d be hard for Barnaby to argue that he is the “elected deputy prime minister of Australia,” which is an intensely weird thing for him to claim given he voluntarily stepped down because of a sex scandal.
The Nationals partyroom will next meet on April 1, the day before the Budget is handed down.
