Rogue MP Barnaby Joyce will not sit with the Nationals when they meet in Canberra on Monday, after declaring his relationship with leader David Littleproud is irreparably broken.

But the former deputy prime minister has ruled out representing his electorate of New England as an independent, as speculation runs rampant that he will defect to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Pressed on whether he would meet Hanson while parliament sits during the next fortnight, Joyce said it was “a free country.”

“I’ll meet with Pauline Hanson, I’ve met with Pauline Hanson before,” he said in Canberra on Monday.

“You’re allowed to actually meet other people. I talk to people from the Greens … I actually do talk to other people away from my own party.”

Although he won’t be in the Nationals party room this week, Joyce said he would still sit with the junior Coalition party in parliament.

He said he’d had a courteous discussion with Littleproud, which went for about three minutes. He declined to give further details.

Littleproud described the discussion in similar terms.

Joyce’s defection was prompted by a dispute over climate policy, with the former leader urging the Coalition to abandon its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

“As I said, if you believe in net zero, I can’t be part of it,” Joyce told the Seven Network on Monday.

“This net zero is just doing too much damage to Australia for the benefit of a very select, very affluent small group of people who are just creaming the system at the expense of pensioners and poor people. And it’s got to stop.”

Barnaby Joyce cuts a lonely figure in the House of Representatives on Monday. Photos: Mike Bowers

Asked later why he was taking a position of all or nothing on net zero, Joyce said it was a matter of aspiration and targets.

“If I was to say … I have a target to punch you in the nose, but now I’ve just got an aspiration, would you feel more comfortable about it?” he said.

“By the way, I’m not a violent man. That was a metaphor, not a promise.”

The Australian reported on Monday that Nationals MP Llew O’Brien had signalled the Coalition could split for the second time this year if the Liberals backed net zero.

Also on Monday, Nationals MPs received an update on their internal review of net zero, led by outspoken climate sceptic Matt Canavan and his colleague Ross Cadell.

Littleproud said the review was about coming up with serious policies, not just opposing the government’s plan.

“It’s great to sit there and beat your chest and say ‘no’, that’s the easiest thing to do in politics,” he said ahead of the meeting.

“The hardest thing is to say, ‘what’s the alternative?’.”

He said Joyce was welcome to rejoin the Nationals at any point, and encouraged him to come back and make a contribution.

For his part, Joyce refused on Monday to rule out rejoining the Nationals. He said he’d make that decision “down the track”.

-with AAP