Coalition denies deal with One Nation as Barnaby Joyce fires up about neo-Nazi meeting
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has denied giving the party the authority to speak with One Nation over a potential power-sharing deal.
Barnaby Joyce told News24 he was in conversations with “very, very senior Liberals” over a deal that would see One Nation offer supply and confidence in the event the Coalition had greater numbers at the next federal election and expect the same vice versa.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce claims he is in conversations with “very, very senior Liberals”. Getty
“We’re now cutting dice, and we’ll find out where we end up,” he said on Tuesday.
But on Wednesday, Taylor denied his party is in talks with One Nation.
“No, and I gave no authority to anyone else to have that conversation,” he told reporters.
Other senior Coalition figures ruled out talks with Joyce, including Nationals leader Matt Canavan, deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume and shadow treasurer Tim Wilson.
Nine.com.au has contacted Joyce for further comment.
Pauline Hanson has repeatedly flagged her willingness to work with Taylor – an offer the opposition leader has rejected in his bid to govern in his own right.
The pair, who have been speaking through the media and statements, have not talked directly since 2019.
One Nation’s call for a deal is preemptive, considering the next federal election is not until 2028, but sustained positive polling results this year have encouraged the far-right party to make serious internal changes.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor with former prime minister and Liberal Party federal president Tony Abbott. Getty Images
Former long-time chief of staff James Ashby was promoted to national director while Scott Morrison’s former counsel Chris Taylor assumed his previous role.
One Nation has also established branches in key states and the party has implemented a stronger vetting process for candidates.
One Nation has remained either ahead or just behind Labor in the primary vote in most polls, while the Coalition trails behind them as it struggles to recover from a historic loss at the last election and the damage from two Coalition splits in under a year.
The latest Newspoll released on Monday showed Labor had fallen to a near record low of 27 per cent of the primary vote while One Nation remained steady at 30 per cent.
The Coalition was also steady at 19 per cent.
The results did not account for a recent hit One Nation has taken after Nine, the owner of this website, aired an interview with a Ku Klux Klan leader who praised Hanson.
It sparked outrage from Hanson, who said it was “disgusting and a new low for the Australian media”.
Joyce labels neo-Nazis ‘freaks’
On Wednesday, Joyce became furious over a report he met with a prominent neo-Nazi at a casino in Canberra earlier in September.
He denied there was a scheduled meeting and said he was approached by a group of people that he did not recognise, including neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell, who was charged over an alleged attack on the Indigenous Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne last year.
Prominent neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell. Justin McManus/The Age
“People are always coming up because I’m in politics. People always come up. They want selfies. They chat, and then there was a group that came up, and it became apparent to me after a while that I was feeling awkward with them,” he told 2GB.
“I didn’t know who they were, and there was something about Anglo-Saxon immigration and Pauline Hanson.
“They didn’t like her, and I just sort of like brought the conversation to an end.
“I did take a photo of them because I just thought there’s something awkward about them. And later on, I find that they’re neo-Nazis, and I felt like the Blues Brothers meeting the Illinois Nazis.”
Asked whether he arrived and left with them, he said the claim was “completely and utterly incorrect”.
“I don’t follow the neo-Nazis. I think they’re freaks,” he said.
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