Barnaby Joyce goes from the bloke who lit the fire to the bloke carrying the bucket

There is a particular kind of political humiliation reserved for the man who used to be the headline and is now the clean-up crew.For years, Barnaby Joyce was the Nationals’ resident chaos merchant. A politician who could turn a media conference into a bushfire, a policy announcement into a controversy, and a carefully prepared message into an accidental three-day news cycle.The cleaner: One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce.Marija ErcegovacThe spectacle has not been lost on Coalition figures, some of whom privately savoured the role reversal. During his years as deputy prime minister, it was often Nationals and Liberal colleagues who found themselves answering questions about Joyce’s latest controversy.Now the questions are about Pauline Hanson. And Joyce is the one insisting everyone has misunderstood. The bloke who used to light fires is now the bloke carrying the bucket.Over the past week, Joyce has accepted interviews on Seven’s Sunrise and Spotlight, Nine’s Today, Sky News’ AM Agenda and The Bolt Report and ABC’s Radio National, kicking every little controversy along while at the same time trying hard to calm the farm.His transformation reached its surreal peak on ABC’s 7.30 when Joyce was attempting to defend Hanson’s European adventure – including her appearance alongside British far-right figure Tommy Robinson – when an unseen canine interrupted.“I, I think … SIT DOWN!” Joyce barked. “Sorry, it’s a dog.”Here was Joyce, one of the most recognisable figures in Australian politics, briefly reduced to a man having an argument with a pet while simultaneously trying to explain his party leader’s position on immigration.You couldn’t help recalling the infamous “barking dog man” moment from A Current Affair in 2010, when Sydney resident Ray Graham turned a routine interview about dangerous dogs into an unforgettable live re-enactment complete with barking and growling.But unlike Graham, Joyce had a genuine political crisis unfolding.Sarah Ferguson was not asking about a dog. She was asking whether Joyce was comfortable with where Hanson was taking One Nation.Joyce’s answer was effectively: Yes … but let me explain.That has become his new political role: explainer-in-chief.When Hanson’s comments about the end of the White Australia policy surfaced after her interview with Robinson, Joyce insisted she did not support returning to the policy.“Pauline Hanson does not support the White Australia policy,” he said.When questions had emerged about mass deportations, he clarified that Hanson was referring to people who were unlawfully in Australia.When asked whether doctors and government systems would be used to identify visa overstayers, Joyce argued that illegal migrants would eventually be found through “all range of things” – including health issues and parking fines.It was an answer that created another question. But that, increasingly, is the Joyce dilemma. He is trying to make Hanson’s politics sound more conventional while defending positions that are deliberately designed to be disruptive. He is trying to put guardrails around a movement whose appeal comes partly from driving through them.The strangest part is that Joyce is uniquely qualified for the task. Nobody understands the politics of grievance, anger and outsider appeal better than him.He built a career by channelling frustration with Canberra elites, environmental regulation, political correctness and globalisation.He knows exactly why Hanson’s message resonates with some voters. But he also knows the danger of allowing every controversy to define the party.The problem is that Hanson has spent decades cultivating an image as someone who says what others will not. That makes discipline difficult.A leaked One Nation memo this week, which had a warning for members not to speak publicly without approval, captured the tension. A party built on rebellion is now trying to impose message control.The rebels have discovered they need a communications department and Joyce has become its chief operator.Having played down the idea of tensions between the two, Hanson, for her part, says she found the Joyce interview amusing.“I laughed. It’s funny. That’s Barnaby. This is why I love the people around me. We’re just human,” Hanson told reporters in Perth. “He told the dog ‘shut up’. So what is your problem with that?”There is something almost poetic about Joyce defending Hanson’s political instincts while being forced to explain away the very style of politics that once made him famous.After a week spent defending Hanson from one controversy after another, it seems the dog was perhaps the only creature in One Nation’s orbit not willing to toe the party line.Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners