Barnaby Joyce says mixing alcohol with prescription medication led to the video of him lying on a popular Canberra street swearing on the telephone after a long sitting day.
The former deputy prime minister will be questioned by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton about the behaviour when parliament returns on Monday as Mr Joyce prepares to skip a Nationals party room meeting where the incident will be discussed.
The video, published last week by Daily Mail Australia, shows the member for New England lying on the ground on the phone after he appeared to have fallen off a planter box late on Wednesday night.
Mr Joyce told Sunrise he is not looking to excuse his actions but refused to weigh into speculation about his future on the Nationals frontbench or if he would be reprimanded.
“I made a big mistake. There’s no excuse for it. There is a reason. And it was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it,” he said.
“I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100 per cent right. They did.”
Mr Joyce’s actions were described as “not normal” by Nationals leader David Littleproud who also said he hoped for his predecessor to get the support he needed.
Asked whether he would seek help, Mr Joyce replied he was “not looking for sympathy”.
“I will just by that. What I said is what I said. I came back, I sat on a planter box, I fell off and I was videotaped. There you go. What else can you say?” he said.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek declined to sink the boot into Mr Joyce over the issue, saying it was a “matter for Barnaby and his family”.
