'Big mistake': Barnaby Joyce blames medication mix-up for Canberra footpath incident

Barnaby Joyce was filmed while lying on a Canberra footpath on Wednesday night, and now he's explained what happened.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says he was helped by a taxi driver after he fell off a planter box and was filmed lying on a Canberra footpath last week. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Key Points

• Barnaby Joyce was filmed while lying on a Canberra footpath late at night last week.
• He's revealed mixing prescription medication with alcohol was the reason behind his behaviour.
• Members of parliament have had mixed reactions to the incident.

Barnaby Joyce says he made a "big mistake" mixing prescription medication with alcohol when he was filmed lying on a Canberra footpath, as a government minister urges the Nationals MP to seek help over the incident last week.

Joyce was captured on a video taken by a passer-by lying on a footpath in the suburb of Braddon while speaking into his phone.

The former deputy prime minister issued a statement on Saturday, a day after the clip emerged, admitting to feeling "embarrassed" by the incident, which happened last Wednesday night. He said he had fallen off a planter box before continuing an animated chat with wife Vikki Campion.

On Monday, Joyce explained he is on prescription medication and was told "certain things may happen" if he mixed alcohol with it.

"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 told the Seven Network's Sunrise program.

"I'm not looking for sympathy and I'm not looking for an excuse. I sat on a planter box, I fell off and I was videotaped."

Opposition leader Peter Dutton says he will speak with Joyce about the incident but suggested onlookers should have helped the federal MP after he fell.

"It's pretty rough when people are walking past somebody who may be in need of support," he said.

Barnaby Joyce was filmed by a passer-by lying on a footpath in Canberra after a parliamentary sitting day. Credit: Nine News

Joyce said he was helped by a taxi driver.

"For me, the good Samaritan was the Indian taxi driver who pulled over as I was walking home and said, 'Do you need a lift, mate?' which I obviously did."

The Nationals MP said questions about his future in the party were not for him.

Labor minister says Joyce incident 'incredibly sad'

There's been mixed reactions from members of the government over the incident.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially said the matter was for the Nationals and would not add to the commentary, but on Sunday said the public would be looking for answers.

"People will see that footage, they will look for an explanation that has some credibility and they'll look for leadership from the leader of the Liberal Party and the leader of the Nationals Party about this."

Lidia Thorpe has criticised the "double standards" women face in politics, after the Barnaby Joyce footpath incident. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Albanese's latest comments came a day after independent senator Lidia Thorpe criticised the backlash she faced when a video of her in a verbal altercation outside a Melbourne strip club emerged last year. Comparing that backlash with the reaction to Joyce, Thorpe said women in politics faced "double standards".

"Parliament is still a private school boys' club, and this is the latest example of the double standards we see from men in power," she told News Corp.

Speaking alongside Joyce on Sunrise, government minister Tanya Plibersek said she wouldn't be speaking about it, as it was "a matter for Barnaby and his family and his party to sort through".

But fellow minister Katy Gallagher described the incident as "incredibly sad".

"I think it confirms the public mind's negative association with politics," she said on Monday.

"I hope he gets the help he needs."