Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has quit the party, citing fractured relationships with its leadership.
The high-profile New England MP will not stand for his seat at the next election.
He does plan to see out rest of the term, though.
“My relationship with the leadership of the Nationals in Canberra has unfortunately, like a sadness in some marriages, irreparably broken down,” the former deputy prime minister wrote in a letter to branch members.
Reports the firebrand MP plans to defect to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation were not confirmed in the statement but his options have been kept open.
“I am free to now consider all options as to what I do next,” he said.
Mr Joyce was demoted from the party’s frontbench by current leader David Littleproud earlier this year.
He has been an outspoken critic of net zero emissions-reduction goals and been calling on the federal coalition to abandon it.
His party’s ongoing support of reducing Australia’s emissions to net zero by 2050 was flagged as a sticking point.
“Our position in continuing to support net zero with the massive schism and hurt to my electorate, to small businesses, to the environment, to the poor, to the defence of Australia and creating hate between lifelong friends in my community makes continuing in the Nationals’ Party Room in Canberra under this policy untenable.”
The departure follows Liberal leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie quitting the Coalition frontbench after criticising his party’s stance on net zero.
The move by Nationals leadership to instruct Mr Joyce not to campaign outside his electorate during the last federal election was also criticised by the veteran MP.
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