Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce doesn’t have the backing of Andrew Gee but the Calare MP said he isn’t backing any potential challengers.
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In a statement to the media on Friday morning, Mr Gee said some issues surrounding Mr Joyce needed to be clarified before the embattled leader had his support.
Mr Joyce will hold a press conference from his home at Armidale at 2pm.
However Mr Gee said he hadn’t been contacted by leadership hopefuls and instead said he was “backing the electorate”.
“Until I have clarification regarding some of the issues about Barnaby, I won’t be able to back him but I’m also not in a position to back any challenger,” Mr Gee’s statement said.
“Our electorate comes first, and nobody has contacted me to tell me they’re challenging, what they’d do for the Calare electorate or how our key projects would be progressed.
“As things stand, all bets are off, I’m backing the electorate and not anyone else, and we’ll just have to see what next week brings.”
Pressure remains on Mr Joyce after the breakdown of his marriage and his relationship with Vikki Campion, his new partner and mother of his child.
Mr Joyce has defiantly said he will stay on as Nationals leader but the constant media speculation and new allegations of misconduct have kept the attention and pressure on.
On Thursday Andrew Broad became of the first federal Nationals MP to call on Mr Joyce to quit.