'None of us wanted koalas to die': Barnaby Joyce wades into NSW coalition showdown

Former deputy prime minister throws his weight behind John Barilaro as other Nationals warn it's impossible to out shoot the Shooters'

While some federal Nationals watched the runaway events in New South Wales on Thursday with bemusement, the former federal leader of the party, Barnaby Joyce, rushed to the defence of John Barilaro for blowing up the state government over koala protection policy.

Joyce, who used the first sitting day of federal parliament in 2020 - a day of bushfire condolences - to launch an unsuccessful leadership tilt against the man who replaced him, Michael McCormack, told the ABC on Thursday afternoon it was time for the Nationals to declare that enough was enough.