Barnaby’s bloody nose derails Press Club Q&A

A BLOODY nose forced Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce to take a brief intermission while addressing Australia at the National Press Club.

The Deputy Prime Minister had to step away from the podium while taking questions from journalists on Wednesday.

A sniffling Mr Joyce dabbed at his nose with a tissue as he was asked about whether the Coalition between the Liberals and Nationals was made vulnerable by their rift over climate change and a net zero emissions target.

“Don’t you love that you get a bleeding nose in the press club?” Mr Joyce joked before forging ahead with his answer: “Anyway. No, it doesn’t”.

“Because what we are doing is … we have got to make sure our nation earns as much money as possible. We can’t do that if we shut down coal exports,” he said.

His nose started bleeding more profusely while answering a follow-up question from the same journalist. Mr Joyce composed himself off to the one side of the stage and then returned to the lectern to persevere with the question-and-answer session.