Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Morrison apologizes for calling leader ‘fake’ | Political Issues

Barnaby Joyce’s remarks also rock the politics of the Prime Minister, who is due to suspend federal elections by May.

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Barnaby Joyce apologized Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling him a “hypocrite and a liar” and saying Morrison had rejected his request to step down.

Morrison said in a statement Saturday that he accepted Joyce’s apology.

In a statement, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is leading a young colleague in the Morrison coalition government, said last year he did not trust Morrison.

“He is a liar and a liar in my opinion and it has been around for a long time,” Joyce wrote to a former member of Morrison’s Liberal Party who accused him of being raped by a colleague.

Joyce’s remarks have also shaken the politics of Morrison, who is due to call for a federal election by May. His approval is low his Omicron-driven handle the spread of corona infection.

“I want to apologize to the Prime Minister … I have never written what I wrote,” Joyce told a news conference.

“My views from the back of the prime minister are based on ideas and opinions, not on personal relationships.”

Joyce became the next Prime Minister in 2021 as the leader of the National Party, not as Morrison’s nominee. Joyce’s party, which has the power to remove her from office, has not immediately responded to a call for comment.

Morrison replied, “Relationships change over time. Politicians too are people. We all have our weaknesses and no one is perfect.”

Joyce’s messages, first reported Friday night by Nine Newspapers, were sent by someone to Brittany Higgins, a former Liberal Party official. He said he was raped in Parliament in March 2019.

Political unrest comes just days after a spate of talks between senior Liberal party members spoke out against Morrison.

Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese said it was “impossible” for Joyce to continue as deputy prime minister.

“I do not care that all Liberal Party members do not love each other,” Albanese said at a briefing. What I care about is the consequences of a government that is not doing well.