One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has slapped down suggestions his party is “a pack of homophobes”, but he’s ruled out ever setting foot at Sydney’s Mardi Gras, quizzed live on Channel 7’s Sunrise on Monday.
The grilling came days after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson doubled down on 30-year-old comments criticising the Mardi Gras, and after revelations a former One Nation candidate for the WA upper house had made anti-gay comments in an online video.
Looking like he was recovering form a bigger night than his hosts that were backing up from the Logies, a blurry-eyed and croaky-voiced Joyce once again struggled to explain the comments of his leader and did not give her the kind of unqualified support party leaders in Australia generally demand.
@sunriseon7 ‘It’s your private life… keep your private life to yourself’. 🎙️Barnaby Joyce slams ‘vindictive trope’ labelling One Nation as homophobic while adding a letter to LGBTQI+ acronym. ☀️ Catch Sunrise LIVE from 5:30am | Catch up on @7plus #auspol #politics #mardigras #SunriseOn7 ♬ original sound – Sunrise
Sunrise host Monique Wright put it to Mr Joyce directly: did he agree with Senator Hanson that sexuality should be kept “behind closed doors”?
“Well, I support the LGBTQI +H for heterosexual community. That covers all bases,” Mr Joyce said.
Mr Joyce curiously left out the ‘A’ for ally and added an ‘H’ for heterosexual, in what will no doubt guarantee another news cycle of interpretations and explanations of what was really meant by the comment that could easily be taken as insulting.
“And I just think it’s, you know, it’s not to be your sexuality, no matter what it is, it’s not to be glorified, not to be, you know, diminished by it, vilified.”
“It’s just your private life. And, you know, I think that’s where we are.”
Ms Wright then pushed Mr Joyce on why he had earlier described One Nation as “one of the gayest parties in Australia”, and whether that squared with the party’s public image.
“Because everybody’s trying to make us out as a pack of homophobes, which we’re not. It’s just ridiculous,” he said.
“And we’re not racist, we’re not homophobes. But we always get these tropes thrown at us because people don’t want to meet us on even ground.”
“We don’t care what your sexuality is, it’s your business. And that’s basically what we’re saying.”
Asked whether he would personally attend the parade, Mr Joyce didn’t hold back.
“Probably not. Probably not,” he said, “in fact, you can absolutely bet I will not go to the Mardi Gras.”
“But that’s my business. And we just want you to live your own life, but it’s your life.”
Mr Joyce personally supported the Mardi Gras event. He stopped short of backing it.
“I think that, you know, I have, it’s just something I’m not involved with. Right. So, I really don’t have an opinion on it,” he said.
Senator Hanson, for her part, told News24 on Sunday she still did not like the Mardi Gras, though she accepted it brought economic benefits to Sydney and that same-sex marriage was now “acceptable” in Australia. She said she had never been to the parade and had no intention of going.
Senator Hanson also distanced herself from former One Nation WA candidate Parminder Singh over his anti-gay comments, which surfaced in a video posted to social media.
“That’s his personal thoughts and not my thoughts whatsoever,” she said.
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