Barnaby Joyce and Sunrise hosts go head to head in fiery interview: “That is rubbish”
Barnaby Joyce went head to head with Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and Natalie Barr ashe defended national from accusations they hadn't done enough to help drought-affected Australians.
While fiercely defending his party, Mr Joyce constantly dodged questions about Michael McCormack’s leadership.
“Is Michael McCormack a good leader here? Country people are starting to feel let down that the Nats are not behind them here, that the money for the drought stimulus is taking too long to roll out. The Nats aren’t defending country people. What is going on?” host Samantha Armytage asked.
“Well I see the pressure of the drought every day. I mean, I’m living there. And you can see it behind me, imagine waking up and seeing that,” said Mr Joyce.
The politician spoke while standing in front of a grim backdrop of fog and bushfire smoke burning, in Armidale, New South Wales.
“Yeah but where is Michael McCormack, why is he not doing more?” Armytage pressed.
“Well he has to do the best job he can, and he works within the confines of government with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer and the Cabinet,” Mr Joyce said.
“And of course, within the National Party, you’ve got to drive a deal. And I’m sure that Michael, with the changes to Farm Household Allowance, and Bridget McKenzie are doing precisely that, and making sure that the infrastructure that will stimulate the economy, such as the inland rail, such as Dungowan damn, that we get these economies going.”
Under the Farm Household Allowance, farmers are able to get access to income support in four out of every 10 years.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced instead of simply being cut off after the fourth year, those farmers would receive a lump-sum payment of $13,000 for couples or $7500 for singles.
"Is Michael McCormack a good leader? Country people are starting to feel let down"
.@Barnaby_Joyce responds... pic.twitter.com/hpLG0Nr6Mm— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) October 27, 2019
While on Sunrise, Natalie Barr tried to address his party’s internal issues.
“But Barnaby, are there leadership rumblings, is the question. Are there leadership rumblings between the leader and the deputy leadership? Are people angry about your leadership in the Nationals?” she asked.
“Well it’s not my leadership, but I think the main thing that people understand —” Mr Joyce responded.
“But are the rank and file angry? Do they want a change of leadership in the Nationals?” Barr interjected.
“We are reflecting the pressures that are coming on us. From the dairy industry, from the drought, from people who are struggling, we understand that. And of course what we reflect in our commentary is that pressure that we have to deal with,” he replied.
The politician managed to keep his composure until Armytage mentioned One Nation Leader, Pauline Hanson, who is putting pressure on the government to intervene in the dairy industry.
That inquiry will consider tasking the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with regulating a base price for milk.
“Pauline Hanson’s the only one sticking up for the dairy industry. Where are the Nats? Why are you not fighting with Scott Morrison every day?” Armytage asked, which sparked a blow-up from Mr Joyce.
“Oh come off it. That is rubbish. That is rubbish. That is rubbish,” he said.
“We developed the dairy code, we developed the sugar code, we came in with the drought package. We’re actually doing it, because we’ve got the guts to sit in Cabinet and fight for it. We don’t sit at the coffee shop and scream and yell like a carnival barker, we actually get to the place where we make things happen.”
“So Nationals MPs are happy with the leadership?” Barr interrupted.
“We don’t have to drive from Ipswich out to the country, we live there. There it is, right behind us! It’s just over there!” he said.
“And National MPs are happy with the Nationals’ leadership?” she questioned.
“We are making sure that we drive the agenda, yes, because we just want to focus on the people,” he said.
“We want to make sure that their outcome is our job, that’s what we’re doing.”