Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has formally defected to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, ending months of speculation and setting off one of the most significant realignments in federal politics this term.
Standing alongside Hanson in Tamworth on Monday, the New England MP confirmed he will serve out the remainder of his lower house term as a One Nation MP and will contest the next election as the party’s lead Senate candidate for NSW.
Joyce resigned from the Nationals two weeks ago following long-running tensions with party leader David Littleproud and deep disagreements over the Coalition’s abandoned support for net-zero emissions. His move gives One Nation a fifth federal parliamentarian, entitling Hanson to a substantial remuneration increase and potentially additional staff—although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office said the government had yet to consider extra resourcing.
Littleproud accused Joyce of betraying his electorate and chasing higher pay, describing One Nation as a “party of protest” that delivers headlines rather than outcomes. However, Joyce insisted the shift was driven by ideology, praising Hanson as a “fellow traveller” who had shaped national debate on energy and immigration. He said One Nation’s pressure forced the Coalition to toughen its position on migration and abandon net zero, arguing the policy had “eviscerated the power grid” and pushed pensioners into poverty.
Hanson welcomed Joyce as a “front-row forward”, dismissing suggestions that her party risked repeating the fractious experience of former recruit Mark Latham. She said Joyce offered stability, loyalty, and an opportunity to strengthen the party’s Senate presence, particularly in regional NSW.
The defection arrives as One Nation experiences a major resurgence. The latest AFR/Redbridge/Accent poll shows its primary vote climbing to 18 per cent—almost triple its result at the last election—while the Coalition has dropped to a historic low of 24 per cent. Senior Liberals privately admit the shift may help them reclaim metropolitan seats where Joyce has long been unpopular.
On local Tamworth radio, Joyce argued that joining One Nation gives him greater influence and a clearer pathway to shaping policy. He hinted at ambitions for long-term leadership, noting Hanson is expected to retire sometime after the next election. He also emphasised the increased power of Senate committee work, predicting the upper house numbers will be tight in the next term.
Joyce’s former colleagues Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie had hoped to persuade him to return to the Nationals over Christmas, but his resignation made clear he saw no future within the Coalition. “If I’m going to continue that fight,” he said, “I need to be somewhere other than the ejector seat of the opposition backbench.”
With his move now official, Joyce becomes the highest-profile federal MP ever to defect to One Nation—a shift that could reshape conservative politics nationally and sharpen the ideological divide on climate, energy, and migration ahead of the next election.
