Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has apologized to Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday for calling him “a hypocrite and a liar” and said Morrison had declined his offer to resign.
Last year, the deputy prime minister, who heads the junior partner in Morrison’s coalition government, said in a message that got leaked that he had never trusted Morrison.
“From my observations over a long period of time, he is a hypocrite and a liar,” Joyce wrote to a former staffer of Morrison’s Liberal Party who had accused a fellow staffer of sexual assault.
When it came to light a few days ago, I immediately called the Prime Minister, Joyce told reporters on Saturday.
“I offered my apologies. My apology was accepted by him. I submitted my resignation, but he refused to accept it “Joyce stated.
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“Relationships change over time,” Morrison responded. “Politicians, like everyone else, are human beings. We all have faults, and none of us is perfect,” he added.
Joyce’s remarks shook Morrison’s political position even more, as he must call a federal election by May. Approval ratings of his have dropped significantly as a consequence of his handling of the Omicron variant in the coronavirus outbreak.
Joyce was appointed deputy prime minister in 2021 as the leader of the National Party, not as Morrison’s appointee. Joyce’s party, which has the authority to remove him as a leader, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Morrison confirmed changes to his cabinet in March 2021 in response to the controversy involving the treatment of women in Parliament.
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