<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former party leader Barnaby Joyce will leave the Nationals after what he said was an irreparable breakdown in the relationship amid speculation of a defection to One Nation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcement comes hours after reports rose that the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/barnaby-joyce-reportedly-in-talks-to-defect-to-pauline-hanson-one-nation/5bcdbd65-91c2-49bf-89e6-3260da6b783b" rel="" target="_blank" title="New England MP was in &quot;advanced talks&quot; with Pauline Hanson's conservative party"><span>New England MP was in "advanced talks" with Pauline Hanson's conservative party</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While Joyce did not confirm the move, he said his decision to part with the Nationals was over policy differences.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/reforms-to-hit-australian-schools-as-bullying-crackdown-continues/a3027903-c84a-49e8-bad6-f86afd8e6a69" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Sweeping reforms set to hit every school across Australia</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My relationship with the leadership of the Nationals in Canberra has unfortunately, like a sadness in some marriages, irreparably broken down," he said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The instructions that during the federal election I was not to campaign outside New England as that did not represent the views of the Nationals, then after the election being moved on for 'generational change' and just the atmospherics in the party room, where I am seated in the far corner of the Coalition in the chamber, means I am seen and now turning into a discordant note.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That is not who I want to be.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/barnaby-joyce-to-leave-the-nationals-amid-speculation-of-defection-to-one-nation/cef8e827-1f60-4024-8335-3326e0a0aa8b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"More importantly our position in continuing to support Net Zero with the massive schism and hurt to my electorate, to small businesses, to the environment, to the poor, to the defence of Australia and creating hate between lifelong friends in my community makes continuing in the Nationals' Party Room in Canberra under this policy untenable."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/global-tipping-points-report-the-great-barrier-reef-is-facing-catastrophic-risks-climate-change/cb9b0f0a-f437-4287-9fbc-9a07330fefd8" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>The Great Barrier Reef is facing 'catastrophic' risks – don't despair</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Joyce said he will not run for the seat of New England, in northern NSW, at the next election, but will complete his current term.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He is now open to defecting to another party if he wishes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I am free to now consider all options as to what I do next," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hanson told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that she would be "happy" to have Joyce join One Nation if he wanted to.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More to come ....</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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