NATION Joyce reveals price of politics

BARNABY Joyce says he thinks there are “probably” other dual citizens sitting in Parliament who haven’t been as upfront as The Nationals were.

He also revealed he hadn’t been living at his family home while campaigning around his electorate, also opening up about the toll of public life.

Mr Joyce said he and Nationals colleague Fiona Nash “did the right thing” when they became aware of their citizenship issues but he suspected there were others less forthcoming and honest.

“The Labor Party says you’ve got to prove it. Maybe we should have been like the Labor Party and refused to deliver any information.”

Mr Joyce said that they had not seen anything from Penny Wong to confirm she was no longer a Malaysian citizen, while Tasmanian MP Justine Keay still had “questions to answer”.

But Mr Joyce said he didn’t believe there should be an audit carried out to confirm politicians’ citizenship status.

Speaking on the hustings yesterday, he also revealed that he hadn’t been staying at his family home near Tamworth, but didn’t want to elaborate further as it was personal.

He admitted he had considered quitting politics after he found out he was going to the High Court.

When asked about the reasons why, he said: “If you want to do the job properly you’ve got to be dedicated to it and dedication comes at a price.

“You’re not your own person, you’re owned by the public and the public owns your time.”

Asked about his family he said: “It takes a toll on your family, I acknowledge that.”

He said he never discussed his doubts with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and ultimately decided he couldn’t let his electorate, and people, down.

“The thing that swayed me across, the Labor Party would immediately start unwinding all the things we’ve been fighting for,” he said.

Mr Joyce also said that the current turmoil as a result of the citizenship debacle wouldn’t hurt the Government in the long term.

“It’s a year and a half away from the election. This is an issue that will pass, to be honest, quite quickly,” he said.