Barnaby Joyce Loses Cool on ABC 7.30, Yells at Dog During Hanson Defence

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce appeared on ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night to defend party leader Pauline Hanson following her high-profile European trip, but the interview descended into chaos when he shouted at an unseen dog. Joyce disputed claims that Channel Seven arranged Hanson’s meeting with British far-right activist Tommy Robinson and denied Hanson supported restoring the White Australia policy, despite her recent comments on a podcast suggesting Australia’s immigration problems began when Gough Whitlam ended that policy in 1973.

The interview and the outburst

Journalist Sarah Ferguson asked Joyce whether he was comfortable with Hanson’s direction during the live nine-minute interview from his rural property. Mid-answer, Joyce suddenly bellowed ‘SIT DOWN’ at an offscreen dog. When Ferguson told him to answer the question instead of worrying about the animal, Joyce replied ‘Don’t be rude Sarah, or this interview will grind to a halt.’ He later apologised for the disruption. Hanson laughed off the incident at a Western Australia event on Tuesday, saying ‘It’s funny. That’s Barnaby. This is why I love the people around me. We’re just human.’

Joyce defends the Robinson meeting

Joyce claimed Channel Seven’s Spotlight program suggested the meeting with Tommy Robinson, not One Nation. When Ferguson pushed back citing Channel Seven’s denial, Joyce said he had read emails and held ‘a different opinion.’ He argued that after Nigel Farage dropped out of the interview, Channel Seven filled the gap by suggesting Robinson. Ferguson countered that Hanson, as a politician hoping to be prime minister, had agency to make her own decisions about the meeting.

The White Australia policy dispute

Ferguson asked whether Joyce endorsed Hanson’s call to bring Robinson to Australia. Joyce denied that Hanson supported returning to the White Australia policy, saying ‘she said that quite clearly on the stage.’ However, on a recent podcast with Robinson, Hanson suggested Australia’s problems started in 1973 when Whitlam ended the White Australia policy, and she voiced support for mass deportations. The policy, in place since Federation, sought to restrict immigration to preserve Australia as predominantly white and British.

Earlier clash with Labor minister

Joyce’s Monday was turbulent. He had clashed earlier in the day with Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek in a heated Sunrise debate over Hanson’s Spotlight comments. Joyce, a former deputy prime minister who defected from the Nationals to One Nation, has become a high-profile figure in the party as it faces scrutiny over its immigration and racial policy positions.

Final Thoughts

Joyce’s on-air outburst underscores rising tensions within One Nation as Hanson’s European trip and Robinson meeting draw intense scrutiny. The incident highlights the friction between defending party leadership and managing public perception on sensitive policy questions.

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