Australians willing to give One Nation ‘a go’, Barnaby Joyce says as support climbs

Nationals-turned-One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says Australians “are willing to give us a go” as his new party continues to climb in the polls.

The latest Guardian Essential poll published on Wednesday put core support for One Nation at 22 per cent.

It came after a Demos poll this week recorded the minor party’s primary vote at 24 per cent, while Newspoll put it at 22 per cent and Resolve at 18 per cent last week.

The Demos poll also found One Nation leader Pauline Hanson overtook Sussan Ley as preferred prime minister, with Senator Hanson at 26 per cent and the Opposition Leader trailing at 16 per cent.

The results back Mr Joyce’s insistence that One Nation’s surge has not entirely been a “Barnaby bump” linked to his defection.

He said on Wednesday that “Australia is looking for is clarity, unity and strength”.

“The Coalition has got so much love in this relationship, they just can’t have one marriage, they’re going to have three,” he told Nine’s Today.

He went on to say that the “Australian people are willing to give us a go” because “we’re not scared to say we want to give you the cheapest power”, which he said was “coal-fired power”.

Mr Joyce added that it was “the sort of clarity that people expect”.

“We believe in pensioners in Penrith, not the Paris Agreement,” he said.

Also appearing on Today, Nationals senator Matt Canavan ruled out following Mr Joyce in jumping ship despite the chaos inflicted by the Coalition’s split last week.

“I won’t change parties because I’m loyal,” Senator Canavan said.

“I’m a loyal person. I’m loyal to the people who put me here.”

He said that while Senator Hanson had given “voice to some of the frustrations that people feel”, she had failed to bring about solutions in her three decades in parliament.

“It’s not clear to me what the policies of One Nation are,” he said.