Silver lining if (predictably) nothing substantive comes from this: at the next election, Teal candidates can remind their constituents that a "vote for the Liberals, is a vote for Barnaby Joyce".
Barnaby Joyce says he is “not looking for sympathy” after explaining that footage of him lying on a Canberra footpath and swearing into his phone was the result of combining alcohol and prescription drugs.
Pressure is mounting on the Nationals leadership to drop Joyce, a former deputy prime minister, from the frontbench amid claims the response has revealed a double standard.
On Friday Daily Mail Australia published night-time footage of Joyce in Canberra lying face up on the pavement with his feet on a planter box, having a phone conversation and uttering profanities.
Joyce told the Seven network on Monday he had “made a big mistake” by mixing alcohol with a prescription medicine he was taking, but he wouldn’t be drawn on whether he should face reprimands for his behaviour.
When asked about the episode, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said at the time the “level of behaviour is quite clearly unacceptable” and he hoped Thorpe “gets some support”.
Albanese did not comment on the Joyce footage on Friday, saying the MP was experiencing “clearly difficult circumstances”.
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