Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has unleashed his own scathing review on the sanctions levelled at cricketers involved in the ball-tampering scandal.

He’s accused members of the government of taking the moral high ground, saying he can’t believe the criticism thrown by some of his colleagues.

In a fiery declaration, the former deputy prime minister tells Alan Jones the players involved have already paid a high price.

“They had to bring these people out one at a time until they were crying. They broke these three individuals. There was this pile on, this virtue signalling.

“And it came from Turnbull and it came from other people, and to be quite frank, in cabinet they got themselves on television saying how evil this all was.

“Those guys, Warner, Bancroft and Smith, they made a mistake. They needed a kick up the arse, but they got more than that.”

He says “everyone thought it was their time” to come out swinging against the players.

“The fact that Steve Smith was captain of Australia, he is not a bad person. He did not run over a pram with a kid in it. He did not drive his car drunk into the middle of someone’s living room.

“He made a mistake on a cricket pitch… we’ve got to get a little bit of balance on this.”

Click PLAY below to hear the fiery comments below 

The Nationals MP also tells Alan he’s not canvassing colleagues for a tilt at the leadership, saying his support is behind the Deputy Prime Minister Michal McCormack.

“I will do everything in my power to assist Michael McCormack to win as many seats as possible.

“I’m just going to make absolutely certain that my colleagues, it’s like being in the trenches, get across the line.

“I was elected deputy prime minister by the people of Australia, so it’s ridiculous to say if the job was offered to me I wouldn’t, I’d turn it down. Of course I wouldn’t, but I’m not going out asking my colleagues for votes.”

Video coming soon