Barnaby Joyce’s scandals have damaged politics. Maybe it’s time for a change of scenery | Tom McIlroy

He was once seen as a Coalition star, but his career in parliament has involved a series of misadventures and bad policies

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The 30 minutes before question time in federal parliament don’t usually warrant much media attention. A laundry list of members deliver 90-second statements about matters in their electorates.

On Wednesday, those speeches included a Christmas poem, a tribute to a Vietnam war veteran and a shout out to primary schools raising money for charity.