Barnaby Joyce’s dad James Joyce has died at the age of 98.
The former deputy prime minister rushed from Canberra to be by his father’s side on Monday following awful news that his health had deteriorated.
James, who lives with Barnaby and his wife and six kids at the family farm in Barnaby’s electorate of New England, then passed away on July 26 at 11.30pm.
“Barnaby Joyce is mourning the loss of his father Jim Joyce, aged 98, who sadly passed away last night,” a spokesman said.
“He appreciates the many kind wishes and thoughts being extended at his difficult time.”
The late Mr Joyce was a World War II veteran and a livestock veterinarian.
He was a huge supporter of his son’s political career but there were issues in 2018 when it was revealed that Barnaby had dual citizenship.
Barnaby was contacted by the New Zealand High Commission and told he “could be a citizen of New Zealand by descent”.
The High Court then ruled that Barnaby and four other senators were ineligible to sit in parliament due to the dual citizenship.
This sparked a by-election in Barnaby’s electorate with him saying he had “no reason to believe that I was a citizen of any other country than Australia”.
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This article first appeared on OverSixty.