DEPUTY Prime Minister and Member for New England Barnaby Joyce has said he will stay on as Nationals leader regardless of the election result, so long as the party wants him to.
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Mr Joyce has held the Nationals leadership three times, and has no intention of letting it go again, even if that means fulfilling the role from shadow cabinet.
"Definitely, absolutely, 100 per cent [I will be], this is incredibly important and I absolutely respect and thank the people of the New England for the great honour they give me in representing them," he said.
"And also the latitude of understanding in the office of deputy prime minister, that I have a duty to my nation that probably goes beyond the expectations of other people on the backbench."
He did note, however, that being reinstated as party leader is not a guarantee.
Mr Joyce said that was a matter for the party room and it would be wrong to speculate about what decisions may or may not be made depending on the outcome of May's election.
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"Leadership is always something that you should never start saying [things about], that's for the party room and it's an incredible honour that they've given me," he said. "But I'm happy to stay in the job."
It's been something of a rollercoaster ride for arguably one the Nationals' most controversial figures.
Mr Joyce was returned to the party's top job in June 2021, after ousting then-leader Michael McCormack, who was installed in the role after Mr Joyce resigned in February following an affair with staffer Vikki Campion and a sexual harassment allegation made by a Western Australian woman. A claim Mr Joyce has always denied.
Mr Joyce was also deputy prime minister between February and August 2017, before he was ruled ineligible to be in the House of Representatives due to holding dual New Zealand citizenship. After renouncing his citizenship, he won back the seat in a by-election.
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