Hanson targets Canavan, Price in hopes Joyce will lead defection to One Nation

Pauline Hanson is targeting several high-profile Coalition MPs to join Barnaby Joyce in what she hopes will be a significant defection to One Nation over net zero and migration.

Hanson revealed she had her eyes on not only Joyce, who it was reported on Friday was in advance talks with the Queensland Senator, but Matt Canavan, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Colin Boyce.

Joyce confirmed on Saturday his intention to split from the Nationals and not stand for his seat of New England at the next election, due by mid-2028, citing a relationship breakdown – but did not address the speculation surrounding Hanson and One Nation.

Hanson told this masthead on Sunday that Joyce’s potential move could spur Coalition MPs concerned about migration and climate change targets to defect with him, citing Canavan, Price and Boyce as options.

“I think that if Barnaby does move, it’ll incentivise some of those others to say this is a movement that’s happening and this is what we stand for,” she said.

“Jacinta is on the same page as me. The other one I have a lot of time for is Colin Boyce. Matt Canavan has got a lot of talent – he’s great.”

“These are patriotic Australians who are so frustrated with the Coalition and they don’t know what to do.”

One Nation sources and others close to Joyce believe his plan is to join Hanson’s party in the lower house, where it holds no seats, with a view to eventually leading it from the Senate.

Lew O’Brien, the Queensland Nationals MP and close ally of Joyce, has also threatened to quit the party over net zero, The Australian reported on Sunday.

O’Brien, Canavan, Price and Boyce were all contacted for comment.

Canavan said he was flattered “but it’s the Nats or bust for me – I will always be loyal”.

Nationals leader David Littleproud, who has butted heads with Joyce for years, said on Sunday that he had not given up hope of convincing the New England MP to stay.

“He hasn’t tendered a resignation from the National Party,” Littleproud said on Channel Nine’s Today. “I’ve been out of range yesterday but I’ll be reaching out and having a conversation and making sure he understands that he, along with the rest of us, will play a very important role in shaping the Coalition and helping the Coalition rebuild.”

As more drama unfolded in the Coalition, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will deliver a second economic vision speech committing to offering tax cuts, without specifying details, at the next election after it controversially blocked Labor’s proposed cuts in May.

Ley will also hint at unwinding the government’s pro-union workplace laws that the Dutton opposition left alone.

“We will act to deliver intergenerational fairness. Millennials and Gen Z are Australia’s new forgotten generation,” she will say at the conservative Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.

‘Irreparably broken’

Joyce said in a written statement on Saturday that his “relationship with the leadership of the Nationals in Canberra has unfortunately, like a sadness in some marriages, irreparably broken down”.

“I wished I had been given more time to consider this and don’t know the motives of those who put the story out there. I am free to now consider all options as to what I do next.”

Joyce’s statement did not directly address the prospect of defection, although it did say that continuing to sit in the Nationals’ party room in Canberra was “untenable”.

Parliament returns in the week starting October 27, and Coalition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam argued the matter must be resolved before then. The flare-up came after weeks of debate over the frontbench departures of Price and Andrew Hastie.

Duniam told Sky’s Sunday Agenda: “I certainly hope that in reflecting on his time in parliament, which is something that only became possible – as has been pointed out – because of his support from the National Party organisation, that he doesn’t walk away from that.

“I think moving to One Nation, you know, while he might be able to continue his time in parliament would be one thing. I think it’s important to respect those who [brought] you to the dance and in this case, it was the Nats.”

Michael McCormack, a former Nationals leader who has campaigned with Joyce against net zero, was critical of Joyce’s moves.

“You can’t just turn your back on the party that gave you the rare privilege of being the deputy prime minister of Australia. He is the only person to have held that job twice,” McCormack said, praising Joyce’s work ethic and passion for politics.”

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