Barnaby Joyce has confirmed he will resign as leader of the National party, bowing to the relentless political pressure over his personal life.
It also means Mr Joyce will step down from his position as Deputy Prime Minister.
“On Monday morning at the party room, I will step down as the leader of the National Party and deputy leader of Australia,” Mr Joyce said during a press conference today.
“I have informed the acting Prime Minister, Mathias Cormann, of this. I informed my colleagues of this.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is in Washington on official business, released a statement in which he thanked Mr Joyce for his service as a “fierce advocate” for rural and regional Australia.
“The Coalition between the Liberals and the Nationals is Australia’s most successful political partnership, having endured for more than 95 years,” Mr Turnbull said.
“This partnership is undiminished and will continue to deliver opportunity and security for all Australians.”
He named MP John McVeigh as acting Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.
Mr Joyce said his decision was “confirmed by the allegations that I read in the paper”.
“I just thought that has to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” he said.
As well as announcing his intention to step down, he also commented on the “litany of allegations” against him.
“Might I say right here, any person in any political party always says, the leaking, the backgrounding, all that, it will destroy not only our government, it will destroy any government,” he said.
While he said he couldn’t comment at length about the latest allegation he said “I have asked that be referred to police”.
“I’ve asked for the right of the person who’s made the allegation and I’ve asked for my right of defence that be referred to the police,” he said.
Mr Joyce also used the press conference to address the issues surrounding his personal life.
“I apologise to Vikki, the idea, walking across the road as a pregnant lady and just being, you know, put under so much pressure. I mean, I thought that’s not who we are in Australia,” he said making reference to his partner and former media advisor Vikki Campion’s photo being splashed on the front page of a national newspaper.
“That’s not the kind of people we are. I’m the public figure, go after me. That’s what I get paid for but don’t go after private individuals. It’s just wrong. And always think of it when you see something like that on paper and you think it’s salacious, think, “What if that was me? My mother, my wife? How would I feel.”
Mr Joyce’s political rivals have been quick to comment in the wake of his planned departure, with leaders for the Opposition and Greens declaring he should have resigned “when this matter first broke”.
“The fact that the scandal has dragged on for 16 days has been damaging to the government, but more importantly, the country,” Opposition leader Bill Shorten said.
“Mr Turnbull’s handling of this has shown an atrocious lack of judgement”.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said: “This is something that should have happened more than a week ago.”
As well as expressing their disdain at Mr Joyce’s delayed resignation announcement, they both pounced on the alleged “secret agreement” between Mr Turnbull and the leader of the Nationals.
“It is a disgrace that a secret agreement that has hamstrung this Prime Minister through this saga has been kept secret rather than being in the public domain,” Mr Di Natale said.
“The secret agreement must be made public,” Mr Shorten said.
Mr Joyce’s decision to step down comes just days after two of his party colleagues publicly said they could no longer support him.
Nationals MP Andrew Broad has publicly declared his party leader should step down and “sit on the backbench for a while”.
“I need to know as a member of Parliament that the person who is going to be the Acting Prime Minister has got their mind on the job, that they have dealt with the concerns they might have going on in their personal life,” Mr Broad said.
Calare MP Andrew Gee said he can’t back Mr Joyce to remain as leader and “all bets are off”.
“Until I have clarification regarding some of the issues about Barnaby, I won’t be able to back him but I’m also not in a position to back any challenger,” Mr Gee said in a statement today.
The Nationals yesterday confirmed its executive had received an official sexual harassment complaint against Mr Joyce.
Federal party director Ben Hindmarsh said the complaint would be taken seriously and treated with strict confidentiality.
Mr Joyce has labelled the allegation as “spurious and defamatory”, adding that if there was any substance “they should have been referred to police”.
The embattled MP has been fighting to keep his grip on his leadership and Deputy Prime Ministership since his relationship with former media advisor Vikki Campion was exposed this month.
In the wake of the affair, and allegations Mr Joyce may have misused his ministerial powers for personal gain, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called for his second in charge to “consider his position”.
In a public address last week, Mr Turnbull said his deputy had made a “shocking error of judgment” by having a relationship with former media advisor Vikki Campion, and humiliated his wife and daughters.
Mr Turnbull rewrote the ministerial code of conduct to ban ministers from having sex with staff after Mr Joyce’s scandal dragged on for more than nine days.
Mr Joyce then called a press conference in Canberra to tell reporters the prime minister’s comments had caused “further harm”.
“I believe they were in many instances inept, and most definitely in many instances unnecessary,” Mr Joyce said.
“I listened to it and thought that was completely unnecessary, all that is going to do is basically once more pull the scab off for everyone to have a look at.”
Mr Joyce and a now pregnant Ms Campion broke their silence on February 20 claiming in an exclusive interview to Fairfax Media they were not living in a rent-free “palace” provided by a millionaire friend.
Mr Joyce described the accommodation, in which he is living rent free with Ms Campion for six months, as a “bachelor’s pad”.
-9news Australia
