Senate motion calls on Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce to quit

The Senate has called on an embattled Barnaby Joyce to resign as Deputy Prime Minister.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale moved a motion at Parliament House in Canberra calling on Mr Joyce to quit as Nationals leader for ‘clearly breaching the standards required of ministers’ and if he does not resign, urging his party to sack him.

The motion passed the Senate on Thursday afternoon with the support of Labor, the two Nick Xenophon Team senators and independent Derryn Hinch.

The motion passed the Senate with the support of Labor, two Nick Xenophon Team senators and independent Derryn Hinch

Labor and the Greens have zeroed in on the under-fire Nationals leader over his acceptance of a rent-free apartment in Armidale offered to him by millionaire businessman Greg Maguire.

The 50-year-old former accountant is also being grilled over whether any rules have been broken in regard to jobs provided to his former staffer and now partner Vikki Campion, 33, who is seven months pregnant.

It came after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed his troubled deputy would not be filling in for him next week as he visited the United States, with Liberal Finance Minister Mathias instead filling the role with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop overseas.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale moved the motion calling on Mr Joyce to resign for ‘clearly breaching the standards required of ministers’

Mr Joyce’s affair with Vikki Campion, 33, is threatening the Deputy Prime Minister’s political career