I’m not going anywhere, I never would.”Joyce said the phone hook-up was not an official meeting, reiterating that the leader of the Nationals is decided by party MPs. “There is no challenge at the moment … he has the party’s support,” the minister told Sky News. McCormack also missed five opportunities to rule out a challenge at next Monday’s Nationals party room meeting in Canberra. He later added: “Of course I support Barnaby Joyce, he’s our leader, he’s been a very good leader.”A Newspoll published by the Australian newspaper on Monday found 65% of Australian voters believe Joyce should quit as Nationals leader and either go to the backbench or quit politics. Malcolm Turnbull on Monday said he could not say if the deputy prime minister would survive as Nationals leader after his affair with his former staffer and now pregnant partner, Vikki Campion.

Source: The Guardian February 19, 2018 20:15 UTC