Former Australian deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has admitted to drinking "one bottle too many" on the night he was filmed lying on a Canberra footpath after falling from a planter box. The incident, which occurred shortly before midnight on Lonsdale Street in Braddon in February 2024, saw Joyce audibly muttering on the phone to his wife, Vikki Campion.
Initially, Joyce attributed the fall to a combination of alcohol and prescription medication, stating in a Sky News interview with Andrew Bolt that he did not have an alcohol problem but rather an issue when mixing medication with alcohol. "I have a problem if you mix alcohol with medication and that was shown in brilliant form," he said at the time.
More than two years after the event, Joyce offered a more direct explanation to ABC's Australian Story, acknowledging he had "gone too far." When asked if he had one drink too many, he replied, "Oh yeah, not one, maybe one bottle too many." Joyce added that he generally drinks alcohol in social settings and can go for long periods without drinking.
Jake Smith, Joyce's former chief of staff, recounted being surprised when a journalist inquired about the footage, initially disbelieving it could be Joyce. Smith also pushed back against characterizations of Joyce as a habitual heavy drinker, noting that while Joyce is "not a heavy drinker in a consistent way," he "can do it pretty hard" when he chooses to drink.
Campion, who also featured in the Australian Story episode, suggested the incident prompted Joyce to abstain from alcohol for a year and advised him to prioritize his health. "Should he slow down? Yeah," she said. "You know, sometimes it's frustrating because you want those best health outcomes for him."
In the immediate aftermath of the video's release, Joyce took full responsibility. "Look, I did the wrong thing and it rests on my head and that's it. That's all you need to say," he stated. "I was the one who fell off the planter box. I was the one who was videoed in the street. It's my fault. I did the wrong thing. That's it. The end."
The political ramifications of the planter box incident were significant. Former Nationals leader David Littleproud indicated that the event diminished any lingering support for Joyce's return to party leadership. "After Barnaby was found on the pavement, what little support he did have for ever wanting to return to the leadership was evaporated," Littleproud said. He also noted his own efforts to drive "generational change" within the Nationals following the Coalition's 2022 election defeat, suggesting Joyce would unlikely be offered a front-bench position under his leadership.
Joyce, who later joined the One Nation party after his relationship with the Nationals deteriorated, stated that these calls for renewal influenced his political direction. "I thought... generational change is an invite to dinner with Pauline Hanson," he remarked.
