"Mr Joyce's actions have caused pain for his family but it is the ongoing damage Mr Joyce is causing the Nationals organisation that is of greatest concern to me as WA leader," she said on Tuesday. "The Nationals brand across regional Western Australia has suffered as a result of Mr Joyce's actions and he has become a distraction at both federal and state level." But that prompted a forthright response from Mr Anthony, a former federal MP and party powerbroker, who said the intervention from the west was "unprecedented in modern times". "The WA Nationals have always been fiercely independent - that's their prerogative - but ultimately the decision on the leadership of the federal party rests with elected officials," he told Fairfax Media. "And they're [the 21 federal Nationals MPs] from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the NT."

"I don’t think it was very helpful." National Party president Larry Anthony and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Tamworth on the night of Barnaby Joyce's byelection win. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen A day after Mr Joyce spoke exclusively to Fairfax Media about the "witch hunt" into his personal life and declared he wasn't going anywhere, federal Nationals MPs said they believed their leader's position was firming up and that he would keep his job - provided no further evidence of misbehaviour emerged. Nationals Chief Whip Michelle Landry said that "at this stage Barnaby has the support of the party. And I don't believe there are any challenges afoot". Party hard heads estimate Mr Joyce has the solid support of at least eight MPs in the 21-member party room; six are said to want their leader gone, with the final seven MPs in the middle, but leaning towards keeping their leader.

Responding to Ms Davies on Sky News, Mr Joyce dismissed the incursion of the WA Nationals, pointing out that unlike other branches, they were not in a formal coalition with the Liberals and nor did they have any MPs in Federal Parliament. "Therefore I find it surprising that a federal issue has so much momentum in the west when people in the east in the National Party have in the majority a different view - and to be quite frank vastly more skin in the game," Mr Joyce said. Mr Joyce's closest ally in federal Parliament, Resources Minister Matt Canavan, called an impromptu media conference to say while Ms Davies was "entitled to her opinion" he disagreed with the sentiment. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "I respect Mia. She's done a good job over in Western Australia. She's of course entitled to her opinion and it's one I can understand but I think the interest of the National Party and regional Australia is still served by Barnaby staying there to fight for regional areas," he said.