Nationals leader Michael McCormack has said he knows what it takes to have a "successful marriage" when asked about Barnaby Joyce’s recent comments regarding the direction of the party.
On Monday morning Joyce, who stepped down as party leader and deputy prime minister after it was revealed he was having a child with a former staffer, said the Nationals should "pursue policies in our own right. We are not married to the Liberal party".
There has been considerable speculation over McCormack’s position after a group of Queensland Nationals MPs called for him to push the government to subsidise coal-fired power in the state ahead of the federal election, with reports the leadership may be spilled if he doesn’t.
The Nationals leader has said the government would only look into building another coal-fired power station if the business case stacks up.
Despite saying there was “no war whatsoever" within his party, McCormack used a press conference this afternoon to seemingly hit back at his predecessor’s comments.
“Well, when you have a marriage, I understand when you have a marriage that it's a two-way relationship, you don’t always get what you want but you have to work together to build better outcomes for your family. I understand that, I understand what it takes to have a successful marriage and to make sure that we work together to build a better Australia," he said.
Asked if his leadership was at risk, McCormack gave a one word answer: “No.”
Speaking on Radio National earlier, Joyce referred to himself as the "elected deputy prime minister of Australia".
In this morning's @RNBreakfast interview with @frankelly08, @Barnaby_Joyce says he's the "elected deputy prime minister of Australia" #auspol https://t.co/jGlcGqQuSU
Joyce said he would put himself forward if there was a leadership spill but would not be actively calling for one.
Prime minister Scott Morrison said today that there would be “no change” to the leadership of the Nationals.
“We have a fantastic leader of the National Party and the deputy prime minister in Michael McCormack and there’ll be no change to that,” Morrison declared.
On the push for a new coal-fired power station in Queensland, he added: “For such a project to proceed it would require the approval of a Queensland state government. The Queensland state government has no intention of approving any such projects. At all.”
Labor leader Bill Shorten also took the opportunity to comment on the infighting and described the government as “probably the most divided” in recent generations.
He also said: “There is no point in asking a government energy policy out on a date because it will be different by the time the date arrives.”