Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has urged the government to turn its back on renewable energy and start helping desperate Australians.

As the drought crisis worsens in regional Australia, Mr Joyce says people, especially our farmers, “are terrified every time the power bill turns up”.

Several Coalition MPs are concerned by new modelling which shows the nation’s reliance on renewables will double.

The federal government is still negotiating the National Energy Guarantee with states and territories but Mr Joyce says the weekend’s by-elections show voters have had enough.

“Your first job for your nation is to look after the dignity of your people. And the best expression of their dignity is their capacity to keep themselves warm in winter and cool in summer.

“We’ve got the Salvation Army, a reliable source, saying people are going to bed at half past four in the afternoon to stay warm.

“This is bulls***! This has got to stop. We’ve got to jerk ourselves back into gear.”

Mr Joyce says the government must act now. Not for votes but to help struggling Aussies.

“We’ve strapped ourselves into this sort of blithering ideology that we, single-handedly, are going to cool the planet from a room in Canberra.

“Well it ain’t going to work, it’s not going to happen.

“What we are going to do is make ourselves poorer, we’re going to do that.”

Click PLAY below to hear the passionate interview in full