Barnaby Joyce says he is “philosophically aligned” with One Nation after finalising his long-anticipated move to Pauline Hanson’s rightwing party.
Joyce completed his defection from the Nationals on Monday, appearing with “fellow traveller” Hanson to confirm he would sit as a One Nation MP for the remainder of the term. He would lead the party’s New South Wales Senate ticket at the next federal election.
“Pauline made an offer to me to come to One Nation, and I have taken that up,” Joyce said in a joint radio interview with Hanson on local radio in Tamworth, in his New England electorate.
Joyce claimed Hanson had “driven the political agenda”, crediting her with causing the Liberals and Nationals to abandon their net zero emissions target.
“I’m philosophically aligned with One Nation. I’m a conservative and I’m not embarrassed about it,” he said.
The former deputy prime minister’s switch to One Nation had been on the cards for weeks after a bitter public fallout with the Nationals, in particular leader David Littleproud, who dumped Joyce from the frontbench after effectively sidelining him during the 2025 election campaign.
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Joyce teased the defection in parliament’s final sitting week of the year, posing for photos sharing a meal in Hanson’s office before he officially quit the Nationals in a speech to the lower house.
Hanson said she was “really proud” to have recruited Joyce, who she said had a “lot to offer” after two stints as deputy prime minister and the experience of holding senior portfolios.
“What I want now is to form the right team around me,” she said. “I don’t know everything but you can only push through further if you have the right people around you. With Barnaby on board with One Nation now, we will push forward, we will hold Labor and the opposition to account.”
In a statement, Littleproud described Joyce’s decision to abandon the Nationals to join a “party of protest” as “disappointing”.
“The Nationals supported Barnaby through many difficult times, including during his darkest moments,” he said.
“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.”
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There had been speculation Joyce would eventually replace the 71-year-old Hanson as One Nation leader although neither had confirmed a succession plan was in place.
Joyce’s defection came amid One Nation’s rise in support in the opinion polls since the May election, coinciding with a sharp drop in the Coalition primary vote.
The latest Resolve poll, published in the Nine newspapers on Monday, had One Nation’s vote in NSW at 17%, up from 6% in May, when it won a seat.
If Joyce won a Senate seat at the next election, which is due in 2028, it would guarantee him at least another six years in federal parliament.
One Nation, which has four senators in Canberra, claims to have experienced a surge in membership since the election and has boasted of luring once-loyal Nationals supporters, including in Tamworth, to its ranks.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said Joyce’s defection was a symptom of the Coalition turning into a “pale imitation of One Nation”.
“If the Coalition had any economic credibility, they wouldn’t be losing members to their left and to their right. But that’s what’s been happening. They are hopelessly divided,” he said.
