The estranged son of Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart has slammed Barnaby Joyce as ‘so dangerous’ for the country and called on him to resign.
John Hancock recently opened a Twitter account – apparently with the sole intention of firing off scathing messages about the embattled Deputy Prime Minister.
Mr Hancock said Mr Joyce’s wife, daughters and new partner Vikki Campion were not the only ones to have been hurt by the minister’s behaviour.
He said the Hancock-Rinehart family had suffered, too, when Mr Joyce intervened in a long-running family court battle.
Friends: Barnaby Joyce and mining and cattle billionaire Gina Rinehart
Gina Rinehart’s son John Hancock fired off a series of tweets slammed Barnaby Joyce
‘Barnaby has enjoyed his position to his advantage, wantonly causing pain to more than just two families (his old and new),’ he said.
‘He got involved in our family dispute and the judge condemned the pressure he put on us.
‘This is why Barnaby is so dangerous to Australia- he is a person willing to act without considering the consequences, time and time again.
‘Time to go, Barnaby, and don’t come running to Hancock for a job after the people wise up to you’.
The legitimacy of the social media account was confirmed by Steve Pennells, a journalist with a long history of reporting upon the Rinehart-Hancock clan.
Mr Joyce has long had a positive relationship with mining and cattle businesswoman Mrs Rinehart.
But her estranged son has not been on good terms with the National Party leader. Two years ago, Hancock slammed Joyce over an intervention in the long-running family dispute over a $5 billion trust.
John Hancock and his mother Gina (file photo from 2002) have long been estranged
Barnaby Joyce has admitted he is now in a relationship with former staffer Vikki Campion
Mr Joyce had sent a letter to one of Mrs Rinehart’s daughters asking her to keep the family’s long-running dispute ‘in house’.
A furious Mr Hancock later branded the intervention as ‘outrageous’.
Feelings are warmer between his mother and Mr Joyce.
She attempted to award Mr Joyce a $40,000 novelty check as a reward for his services to the agricultural sector at a gala last year.
But he handed the money back.
The Financial Review Rich List last year named Mrs Rinehart as the third richest Australian with an estimated $10.4 billion fortune.
Mrs Rinehart’s representatives were contacted for comment.