Barnaby Joyce loses Armidale office with backbench move

With the New England MP resigning as deputy prime minister and minister for transport and infrastructure, he also loses his entitlement to the office.

The office, which previously handled issues relating to the agriculture and water portfolio, was in the process of transitioning over to the transport and infrastructure ministry.

The office was a service provided by the Department of Finance, however the Department of Agriculture provided the equipment for the office.

“When the Deputy PM ceased to be our minister, we retrieved those items in the normal course of event,” Department of Agriculture head Daryl Quinlivan said.

Last year in October, on the day the High Court ruled Mr Joyce ineligible to stand for parliament due to his New Zealand citizenship, police swarmed the Armidale office, following reports of a suspicious package.

But it turned out to be just paperwork from Canberra.

“It was just wrongfully packaged,” Armidale Police Sergeant Gemma Gallagher said.

The senate estimates reveal the office’s resources will be redeployed to Brisbane, at the request of the new Agriculture and Water Minister, David Littleproud.

Mr Littleproud, who holds the seat of Maranoa in southern Queensland, has electorate offices in Dalby and Warwick.