Letter: Yes – Barnaby Joyce should step down now

I wholeheartedly agree with Thelma that Barnaby Joyce should step down now. He has become nothing more than an abominable disgrace to our electorate. He does absolutely nothing for the people he is supposed to represent.

During his campaign, he spent half the time outside the electorate, showing a clear lack of commitment to our region. Time and time again, he has embarrassed us publicly and failed to uphold even the most basic standards of integrity.

It was also deeply unfair and deceptive for him to withhold information about his illness from voters. Transparency and honesty are the bare minimum we should expect from our elected representatives.

Furthermore, his conduct during the “No” campaign against the Voice to Parliament was shameful. He presents himself as someone who respects Indigenous culture—often giving acknowledgements of Country at local events—but when standing in front of Pauline Hanson, he conveniently abandoned those values. His last-minute, half-hearted acknowledgement that night was nothing more than an act of damage control after the crowd called him out.

Now, instead of doing the decent thing and stepping down, he intends to sit back and continue collecting a taxpayer-funded salary—behaving like the political equivalent of a dole bludger—sucking off the public purse until his term runs out. That will cost taxpayers far more than a by-election ever would.

The alarming rate of crime and youth crime in Tamworth has now reached crisis point, and Barnaby Joyce has done absolutely nothing to address this growing problem. His counterpart, our state member Kevin Anderson, is doing a little—but not nearly enough—to help the situation. There needs to be real change, both at a state and federal level, across the New England district. Neither of these men has shown the courage, vision, or leadership to make any meaningful difference. Perhaps it’s time for an Independent or Labor candidate to step up to the plate and show them how it’s done, because there is no gumption or action seen here at all.

Barnaby Joyce has proven time and again that he lacks integrity, consistency, and moral fibre. He is two-faced, self-serving, and utterly unfit to represent New England. It’s time for him to step down once and for all.

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