Anthony Albanese snubs Barnaby Joyce suggestion after viral video

Anthony Albanese has joked that Barnaby Joyce won’t be planning his bucks party, saying he’d prefer “to stay vertical”.

The Nationals MP came under fire earlier this month after a viral video showed him lying on a Canberra footpath late at night, slurring profanities.

Mr Joyce says it was a mistake to drink alcohol while on prescription medication and he has given up drinking “for Lent”, but it nevertheless triggered questions about whether a political booze ban was needed.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce filmed lying in the street on the phone in Canberra.

The conversation was exacerbated when his Nationals colleague Perrin Davey admitted to drinking two glasses of red wine before she reappeared at a Senate estimates hearing, where she appeared to slur her words. She later said a medical condition and an operation left her with some speech issues.

Neither Mr Albanese nor Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has expressed support for a booze ban or breath testing as independent MP Zali Steggall has suggested.

Appearing on Melbourne’s Fox FM on Friday morning, the hosts congratulated the Prime Minister on his engagement to long-term partner Jodie Haydon and threw him questions about the upcoming nuptials.

He was asked whether Mr Joyce would be organising his bucks party

“Nah mate, I want to stay vertical,” the PM said.

Mr Albanese popped the question on Valentine’s Day, after a romantic dinner at a popular Canberra eatery.

He also revealed that United States President Joe Biden and his wife Jill had sent him and Ms Haydon “the biggest bunch of flowers you’ve ever seen”.

He said he and Ms Haydon had not yet had a conversation about when and where to get married, but he hoped they could sit down soon.

“I’ve been travelling around (since I proposed) so hopefully, we’ll have a bit of time next week to have a chat in Canberra,” he said.

“My diary is pretty packed of course, but we will need to carve out not just a wedding day, but you’ve got to have a trip away as well somewhere in Australia.”