Barnaby Joyce has warned the Western Australian Liberals against giving preferences to One Nation in the upcoming state election because it would spark a political fight with the Nationals.

The warning is a major complication for Colin Barnett’s re-election campaign, which would receive a substantial boost from a preference deal with One Nation but governs in Coalition with the Nationals.

On Monday the Herald Sun reported the Liberals’ Western Australian branch is expected to swap preferences with One Nation, abandoning the principle followed since John Howard established it in 2001 to put the party last.

Earlier on Wednesday, at the National Press Club, Malcolm Turnbull refused to weigh in on the question of a preference deal, saying he would travel to Western Australia to urge people to re-elect Barnett but preference deals were a matter for the state division.

On Wednesday evening, when asked about the potential deal, Joyce told the ABC’s Radio National “that’ll be another blue in WA”.

“Whatever. Whatever blows your hair back,” the deputy prime minister said with feigned disinterest.

In a warning to Barnett, he added: “I think your Coalition’s going to be a National party and a Liberal party coalition. If you want a coalition with other parties, then that’s an interesting call of events.”

The Liberals hold 30 seats in WA’s 58-seat lower house, so they do not currently rely on the Nationals’ further seven seats for a majority. But, with large swings against the Barnett government, the Liberals may need both preferences from One Nation and the Coalition with the Nationals in order to survive the 11 March election.

At the press club, Turnbull was asked why the WA Liberal party appeared to be prepared to abandon the principle of putting One Nation last and where One Nation would appear on federal how-to-vote cards. Turnbull said the Liberals worked with all parties in the parliament, including One Nation.

Turnbull said he respected every member and senator. “I am not a commentator on the political evolution of One Nation,” he replied when asked about Pauline Hanson’s views.

In May, before the July election that elected Hanson and three other One Nation senators, Turnbull said Hanson was “not a welcome presence on the Australian political scene”.

On Wednesday reports revealed a WA One Nation candidate, David Archibald, had described single mothers as “too lazy to attract and hold a mate” in a Quadrant article in 2015.

Hanson has not disendorsed Archibald, despite swiftly dumping two Queensland candidates for statements or publications including that gay people should be treated “as patients”, that drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi was “alive and well” and that the Port Arthur massacre was “a fabricated incident”.

Joyce told Radio National he didn’t agree with the comments.