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Thursday, November 27, 2025
Australian politician and Member of Parliament for New England Barnaby Joyce has announced his resignation from the National Party of Australia. The announcement comes after a month of speculation about his status in the party, including speculation about a defection to Senator Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party. Joyce had been a member of the National Party for 30 years prior to his resignation. Despite his resignation from the party, he will remain a Member of Parliament as an independent politician.
Joyce announced the decision in parliament, saying that he was resigning with a “heavy heart” and apologised for the “hurt” his resignation would bring to people. Joyce, however, criticised the National Party leader David Littleproud and deputy leader Kevin Hogan, for a “lack of communication” starting around the time Joyce announced that he would not again run for his seat in New England in the 2028 election.
Joyce’s final decision to leave the party was a result of him being relegated to the “ejection” seat on the backbench. Joyce stated that he was “strongly considering” defecting to One Nation. He also explained that he did not take the decision “lightly” and was always looking for a way to reconcile with the party, but decided that it had became impossible to resolve and said it was better to move on. Joyce expressed his disbelief in the Coalition’s ability to win the next election, and was critical of politicians focused on winning back inner-city seats, which he felt would turn regional people against the Coalition.
Multiple last-minute appeals were made by National Party members for Joyce to remain in the party. David Littleproud described Joyce’s decision as “disappointing” and felt that it broke the “contract” Joyce signed with voters in the 2025 election. Littleproud dismissed Joyce’s claims of a lack of communication, stating that he always made it clear that he wished for his colleague to remain in the party room, and said that he had respected Joyce’s decision to take time to think about his decision.
Joyce served as leader of the National Party twice and thus served as deputy prime minister twice under the Liberal-National Coalition government. After the Coalition’s 2022 defeat, he was challenged by David Littleproud as National Party leader and was voted out.
