Barnaby Joyce has reportedly taken over the National Party’s leadership from Michael McCormack

The Nationals whip Damian Drum has confirmed that Barnaby Joyce will be Australia’s new deputy prime minister and leader of the National Party.

The Nationals dumped current deputy PM Michael McCormack despite support from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Joyce had previously been leader of the Nationals until he resigned in 2018. He stepped down from politics amid a sexual harassment allegation, which was unable to come to any conclusion.

Sexual harassment allegations

This comes after Catherine Marriott lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against the former vice PM, which remains inconclusive.

The NSW Nationals issued a brief statement confirming the party had finalised the investigation, which would remain confidential.

“This outcome simply isn’t good enough,” says Mariott.

Joyce has continued to deny the claims,calling them “spurious and defamatory”.

Tamil Asylum Seeker family

This comes after Barnaby Joyce slammed his own party over the treatment of the Tamil asylum seeker family, who have been detained in detention for over three years.

Three-year-old Tharnicaa Murugappan was medically evacuated to Perth to be treated for a blood infection last week.

‘Tharnicaa and Kopika were born in Australia,’ he said on Sunrise on Monday. 

‘Maybe if their names were Jane and Sally and they were playing the local netball side, we’d think twice about sending them back to another country which they’re not from.

What’s Barnaby Joyce’s stance on climate?

In 2019, Barnaby Joyce suggested ‘God is the solution to climate change‘, urging Australians to ‘respect God’s plan’.

Joyce was a leading campaigner against the former Labor government’s attempts to tax carbon as a way to bring down Australia’s emissions. He claimed claiming so would ‘send the cost of a Sunday roast to $100.’

“Now you don’t have to convince me that the climate’s not changing, it is changing and my problem’s always been whether you believe a new tax is going to change it back,” he said.

This position comes in contrast to former deputy PM Michael McCormack, who has previously said Australia must “absolutely” take more action on climate.