Let’s play a game. What’s the biggest myth in Australian politics? There are certainly lots of candidates, but for me, it is that Barnaby Joyce enjoys widespread support in New England. I understand the notion that 52.46% of the primary vote doesn’t equate to widespread support is a bit confronting. But just because people vote for him does not mean they like him, or that they agree with him; it only means he was the least bad candidate in a seat that is rarely seriously contested.
There is no better issue to demonstrate how out of touch Joyce is with his constituents than renewable energy. Joyce’s position is basically “anything but renewables”, increasingly pro-nuclear power, and last week he pushed the party room to abandon net zero entirely.
