Former Australian deputy PM joins anti-immigration party One Nation

Australia’s former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has joined anti-immigration party One Nation, less than a fortnight after he quit the opposition Nationals, a party he once led.

Joyce confirmed his defection on Monday on his local radio station in Tamworth, 400km (250 miles) north of Sydney, ending months of speculation and saying it might “hurt” some people.

A well-known figure in local politics, Joyce has long been associated with the Nationals, which represents rural and regional communities, with several stints as leader.

Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation – whose popularity has surged in recent polls – said the pair intend to “turn this country around to make it great again”.

“I am pleased he’s chosen One Nation, and I welcome his experience, his advice and his determination to get a fair go for farmers and regional Australia,” Hanson, who founded the party in 1997, said.

Joyce, currently the member for New England in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), will represent One Nation in the lower house until the next federal election before running as a candidate for One Nation in the Senate, Hanson said.

In a Facebook post explaining his decision, Joyce criticised a range of policies, saying Australia has “eviscerated our energy platform on a ludicrous quest to change the weather”.

He wrote that Australia’s population growth via immigration had “removed the capacity for Australians to buy a home, have a family and increase our population by our own means”.

On culture, he said: “A nation can have multiple faiths, race and colour but not multiple cultures. Australia must bind together under an Australian culture with a common goal to prevail in an increasingly uncertain world”.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said he was disappointed by Joyce’s decision to join what he called a “party of protest which is never able to achieve anything other than headlines”, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The Nationals are the junior partner in a coalition with the conservative Liberals, with their alliance representing the federal opposition.

Exactly two weeks ago, Joyce had dinner with Hanson in her parliamentary office with the pair sharing a meal of steak and salad.

Hours earlier, Hanson had controversially walked into parliament wearing a burqa as part of her years-long campaign to ban the Muslim garment.

Her actions were condemned by fellow senators and later formally censured with one colleague accusing her of “blatant racism”.

Joyce has long been a key Nationals figure – first as a senator for Queensland from 2004 to 2013 before he became the member for New England in New South Wales.

He has held the regional seat for over a decade, with a short pause when he was one of the Australian politicians caught up in the dual citizenship saga in 2017.

In 2016, he became leader of the party and took on the role of deputy prime minister but was forced to resign in 2018 after public pressure over his extra-marital affair with a staffer.

The scandal prompted the prime minister at the time to introduced what was dubbed a “bonk ban” where politicians and staffers were forbidden to have sex with each other.

In 2015, Joyce made global headlines after a public row with actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard after the then-Hollywood couple tried to smuggle their pet dogs into Australia on their private jet, contravening strict quarantine laws.

The saga sparked a war of words between Joyce and the celebrities, with Joyce at one point threatening to kill the two Yorkshire Terriers.

Last month, Joyce announced that he would not be recontesting his seat, sparking weeks of speculation about his political future.

And in recent weeks, the combative politician also stopped attending the Nationals’ party room meetings, in effect signalling possible intentions.

“I don’t think it’s fair for them or it’s not fair for me because obviously you become privy to private conversations,” Joyce said.

“They might want to have a private conversation about me.”

In 2016, Hanson was criticised for her maiden speech to the Australian senate, in which she said the country was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims”.

It echoed her controversial first speech to the House of Representatives, made in 1996, in which she warned that the country was in danger of being “swamped by Asians”.