Other positions


Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Acting
In office 25 July 2017 – 27 October 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Matt Canavan
Succeeded by	Matt Canavan
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources
In office 18 September 2013 – 27 October 2017 6 December 2017 – 20 December 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Joel Fitzgibbon
Succeeded by	David Littleproud
Deputy Leader of the National Party
In office 13 September 2013 – 11 February 2016
Leader	Warren Truss
Preceded by	Nigel Scullion
Succeeded by	Fiona Nash
Leader of the National Party in the Senate
In office 18 September 2008 – 8 August 2013
Deputy	Nigel Scullion
Leader	Warren Truss
Preceded by	Nigel Scullion
Succeeded by	Nigel Scullion

Member of the Australian Parliament
for New England

Incumbent

Assumed office
7 September 2013

Preceded by

Tony Windsor

Senator for Queensland

In office
1 July 2005 – 8 August 2013

Preceded by

Len Harris

Succeeded by

Barry O'Sullivan

Personal details

Born

17 April 1967 (age 58)
Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia

Citizenship

Australia
New Zealand (until 2017)

Political party

National

Other political
affiliations

Coalition
Liberal National (2010–2013)

Residences

Danglemah, New South Wales, Australia

Education

St. Ignatius' College

Alma mater

University of New England (BFinAdmin)

Occupation

Accountant
politician

Military service

Branch/service

Australian Army Reserve

Years of service

1996–2001

Unit

Royal Queensland Regiment

Office vacant from 27 October 2017 to 6 December 2017.

Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician. He was the leader of the National Party of Australia twice. He led from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2022. During these times, Joyce also served as the 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. He worked under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Joyce was born in Tamworth, New South Wales. He studied at the University of New England. In 1999, he started his own accounting business in St George, Queensland. Joyce became a member of the Australian Senate in 2005. He was elected in the 2004 Australian federal election. In 2008, he became the National Party's leader in the Senate.

In the 2013 Australian federal election, Joyce moved to the Australian House of Representatives. He won the seat of New England in New South Wales. He became the Deputy Leader of the National Party in 2013. In 2016, he became the party leader and Deputy Prime Minister.

Joyce held several important roles in government. He was Minister for Agriculture from 2013 to 2015. He also served as Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources from 2015 to 2017. Later, he was Minister for Resources and Northern Australia in 2017. His last role was Minister for Infrastructure and Transport from 2017 to 2018.

In 2017, it was found that Joyce was also a citizen of New Zealand. Australian law says that politicians cannot be dual citizens. The High Court of Australia ruled that he was not eligible to be a politician in 2016. Joyce gave up his New Zealand citizenship. He then won a special election in December 2017. This allowed him to return to parliament.

In February 2018, Joyce resigned from his leadership and ministerial roles. He was replaced by Michael McCormack. Joyce remained a member of parliament. In June 2021, he became Deputy Prime Minister again after winning a party vote. After the 2022 election, he was replaced by David Littleproud as National Party leader. He is now the Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs.

Early Life and Education

Barnaby Joyce was born in Tamworth, New South Wales. He grew up on a sheep and cattle farm near Danglemah, New South Wales. He was one of six children. His parents, Marie and James Joyce, were farmers. His father was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia in 1947. Joyce's grandfather fought in World War I.

Joyce went to Woolbrook Public School. He later attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney. In 1989, he earned a Bachelor of Financial Administration degree. This was from the University of New England. He married Natalie Abberfield in 1993.

After university, Joyce worked in different jobs. He was a farm worker and a banker. From 1991 to 2005, he worked as an accountant. He started his own accounting firm in St George, Queensland in 1999. He is a member of CPA Australia. Joyce also served in the Australian Army Reserve from 1996 to 2001.

Time as a Senator (2005–2013)

Barnaby Joyce's old office in St George

In 2004, Joyce was elected to the Australian Senate. He represented Queensland for the National Party. His first term began on 1 July 2005. He was re-elected in 2010. This time, he was part of the Liberal National Party of Queensland. This party was formed by combining the Liberal and National parties in Queensland.

Joyce was known for sometimes voting against his own party. This is called "crossing the floor." He did this 19 times during the Howard government. He initially had concerns about selling Telstra, a government-owned phone company. However, he later voted for the sale. He helped get a special support package for regional areas.

Joyce also spoke out against giving the Gardasil vaccine for free. In 2006, he suggested mining in Antarctica. This idea was strongly criticized by other politicians.

Voting Against the Party

As a Senator, Joyce often used the threat of voting against his party. This helped him get changes on important issues. He crossed the floor 28 times in total. This made some people see him as an independent thinker. The They Vote For You website shows he voted against his party in 1.1% of votes.

Here are some laws he voted against:

2006: Petroleum Retail Legislation Repeal Bill
2006: Trade Practices Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2005
2006: Tax Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 4) Bill 2006

Leading the Nationals in the Senate

Joyce in 2010

In September 2008, Joyce became the leader of the Nationals in the Senate. He replaced Nigel Scullion. Joyce said his party would not always vote with the Liberal Party. This gave the Labor government another way to pass laws. He had the support of other National senators.

In 2009, Joyce helped lead a rebellion within his party. This was against the emissions trading scheme (ETS). The ETS was supported by the then-Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull. This disagreement led to Tony Abbott replacing Turnbull as Liberal leader. Abbott then made Joyce the Shadow Finance Minister.

In 2010, Joyce made some comments about Australia's debt. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, disagreed with his statements. Joyce's time as Shadow Finance Minister had some challenges. He sometimes confused large numbers. He was moved to a different role after three months. He became the Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Infrastructure, and Water.

In the 2010 election, Joyce was re-elected. He continued as leader of the Nationals in the Senate. His portfolio was renamed Regional Development, Local Government, and Water.

Member of the House of Representatives

Joyce in 2014

In April 2013, Joyce decided to run for a seat in the Australian House of Representatives. He aimed for the seat of New England in New South Wales. The seat was held by independent politician Tony Windsor, who was retiring. Joyce won the seat by a large margin in the September 2013 election.

Joyce was the first person to win back both a Senate seat and a House of Representatives seat for the Coalition. The Nationals had held New England for a long time before Windsor won it. Joyce is one of the few politicians to represent different states in different parts of parliament.

After the 2013 election, Joyce was chosen as the Deputy Leader of the Nationals. On 18 September 2013, he became the Minister for Agriculture. In September 2015, his role expanded to include Water Resources.

In 2015, Joyce gained international attention. He warned actor Johnny Depp that his two pet dogs would be put down. This was because they were brought into Australia illegally.

In the 2016 Australian federal election, Joyce faced a strong challenge from Tony Windsor. However, Joyce won the election with a clear majority.

Becoming National Party Leader

On 11 February 2016, Warren Truss, the leader of the National Party, announced his retirement. Barnaby Joyce was elected as the new leader without opposition. Fiona Nash became his deputy. Joyce became the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia on 18 February 2016. In December 2017, Bridget McKenzie replaced Nash as deputy leader.

Citizenship Issue

In August 2017, Joyce was involved in a parliamentary issue. He announced that he might be a citizen of New Zealand. This was because his father was born there. Australian law states that politicians cannot hold dual citizenship. The New Zealand government confirmed he was a citizen. He quickly gave up his New Zealand citizenship.

On 27 October 2017, the High Court of Australia ruled that Joyce was not eligible to be a candidate in the 2016 election. This was because he was a dual citizen at the time. Joyce then won a special election for New England on 2 December 2017. He was sworn back into the House four days later. He was also reappointed as Deputy Prime Minister. He became the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in December 2017.

During the special election, Joyce was given a prize worth $40,000. This was from a private award. He later decided to politely decline the money.

Resignation from Leadership

On 23 February 2018, Joyce announced he would resign as leader of the National Party. He also stepped down from his ministerial roles. He moved to the backbench, meaning he was no longer a minister. Michael McCormack became the new party leader and Deputy Prime Minister.

Second Time as Nationals Leader

On 21 June 2021, Joyce became the leader of the Nationals again. He won a leadership vote against Michael McCormack.

In February 2022, a text message from Joyce was made public. In the message, he called Prime Minister Scott Morrison a "hypocrite and a liar." Joyce offered to resign, but the Prime Minister did not accept.

After the 2022 federal election, the Liberal–National coalition lost power. Joyce was challenged for leadership by David Littleproud and Darren Chester. On 30 May 2022, Joyce lost the leadership vote to Littleproud. This ended his 11-month term as leader.

Shadow Minister Role

After losing the leadership, Joyce became the Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs. This is a role in the opposition party.

In September 2023, Joyce joined a group of Australian politicians. They went to Washington, D.C. to ask the U.S. government to drop its efforts to extradite Julian Assange.

In July 2024, Joyce faced calls to resign from his Shadow Minister role. This was after comments he made at a protest.

Political Views

Social Issues

Marriage Equality

In 2014, Joyce spoke against allowing same-sex couples to marry. He attended rallies in Canberra. In 2017, same-sex marriage became legal in Australia.

Refugee Support

In September 2015, Joyce was one of the first senior ministers to ask Australia to accept more refugees from Syria. He wanted to help people affected by the crisis in Europe.

Parliamentary Rules

After his son was born in 2018, Joyce suggested changing parliamentary rules. He wanted politicians to be able to hire their spouses or family members. He said this would not cause problems.

Religious Schools

In December 2018, Joyce said that religious schools should be allowed to refuse enrollment to transgender students.

Economic Issues

Supporting Farmers and Businesses

Joyce has often supported causes that help farmers and small businesses. He has pushed for rules that help Australian grain growers. He also supported drought assistance for farmers. He has worked to help small businesses compete with larger companies.

Foreign Investment

Joyce has often spoken against selling large Australian farms or companies to foreign investors. In 2012, he opposed the sale of a large cotton farm to a Chinese company. In 2013, he strongly opposed the sale of a major grain handler to an American company. He also opposed the sale of a very large cattle company, S. Kidman & Co, to foreign buyers. He believed these sales were not in Australia's best interest.

Banking Inquiry

When Joyce was Deputy Prime Minister, he was against a special inquiry into banks. However, after the inquiry began in 2018, he changed his mind. He said he was wrong to oppose it.

Environmental Issues

Renewable Energy

Joyce believes that renewable energy can cause problems with power supply. In 2021, he questioned why some areas had power cuts. However, power companies said the outages were due to cable faults, not renewable energy.

Protecting Australia's Borders

In 2015, Joyce received an award for his work to prevent marine pests from entering Australia. He also acted quickly when actor Johnny Depp brought dogs into Australia illegally. He made sure the dogs were removed to protect Australia's strict quarantine laws.

Great Barrier Reef

Joyce has not been very involved in protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

Climate Change

Joyce has been seen as someone who questions the seriousness of global warming. In 2018, he joined a group of politicians who supported building new coal-fired power plants. In 2019, he said he accepted that the climate was changing. However, he believed the solution was not to impose taxes on emissions. In 2021, he compared the goal of net-zero carbon emissions to being served strange food. He wanted to know the exact costs and plans first.

Murray-Darling Basin

In 2016, Joyce supported reducing water for the environment in the Murray–Darling basin. He wanted to help towns and people who rely on the rivers. This decision was criticized by environmental groups.

Endangered Species

In 2017, Joyce suggested removing the Leadbeater's possum from the critically endangered species list. He believed this would help the logging industry and keep jobs. Environmentalists said this would be very bad for the possum.

Personal Life

Barnaby Joyce is a Roman Catholic. He met Natalie Abberfield at university. They married in 1993 and had four daughters. In December 2017, Joyce announced he and his wife had separated.

In April 2018, Joyce and Vikki Campion had a son. In 2019, they had a second son. Joyce and Campion became engaged in January 2022. They married on 12 November 2023.

Joyce used to support the North Queensland Cowboys rugby league team. But he later changed his support to the Newcastle Knights. This was because they were closer to his electorate.

In May 2025, Joyce announced he would have surgery for prostate cancer.

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