In an interview with The Canberra Times ahead of an appearance today at the National Press Club, Mr Joyce declared he is a changed man now focused on his legacy, and is back in the job he knows "better than just about anybody" to get on with "the game plan", including planning for a possible "second Canberra" in the north.

He also insists - despite the trauma of June's leadership change - he does not lead a divided Nationals team, while talking up political allies Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan as potential future leadership alternatives to David Littleproud.

"You've got a whole suite of people who could be the next leader," he said.

"They've all been blooded.

"You've got strong leaders in the Senate with Bridget and Matt. You've got strong people who have played on the frontbench or [are] playing on the frontbench."

But nation building in Australia's north and north-west is on his immediate agenda. Mr Joyce says to strengthen Australia as quickly as possible is "more important than Covid and more important than climate change".

He's pushing regionalisation and is angling to create another planned city in regional Australia.

"We don't have a major city between Perth and Darwin," the Nationals leader said.

"And that's ridiculous.

"If you go across the water, there are hundreds of millions of people living on islands ... vastly closer to the Kimberley than they are to Canberra."

The Deputy Prime Minister said Canberra would always be the centre of the "serious parts" of the bureaucracy, but a new planned city should be seeded - logically, he says, around Port Hedland.

"We have got to have a plan to say we can do this again," he said.

"It might be about growing what would be an extension of a department in Canberra in another area. But yeah, I'm not going to move the Taxation Office to Port Hedland."

Asked if he is contemplating a department move like he controversially did in 2018 with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) shift to Armidale, the Deputy Prime Minister was blunt.

"I keep that option open, absolutely," he said. "And people will say 'Ahh, that's outrageous.'

"I'm a servant of the people, which means that the taxpayer, not the politician, the taxpayer's your boss."

So what is his message for public servants in Canberra?

"You don't have much to worry about," he said.

"You know, and remember even, the last time we didn't drag people up there - they voluntarily went. And if you went to Armidale now and tried to get them to move back, guess what? They wouldn't.

"So it is an open question, as I've said. I am not here to be liked. I am here to get things done."

The mega infrastructure project Mr Joyce would see as a personal win, if constructed, is Australia's biggest freight rail project, the $10 billion inland rail proposal.

The proposed route of the 1700-kilometre rail line connecting Brisbane to Melbourne has been opposed by his deputy, Mr Littleproud.

"Quite frankly, I have to push this inland rail ahead," he said.

"I want to see it built. I am going to draw it forward."

Asked if the project should go ahead even if it upsets colleagues, Mr Joyce responded, "Yeah. That's life."

"As Churchill said, if you stop to throw rocks at every dog that barks, you're never going to get to where you're going," he said.

But, Mr Joyce insisted the Nationals team was as one, simply with many strong personalities.

Asked if it was a divided team, he responded, "No it is not. It is not all."

The sudden toppling of the less thunderous Michael McCormack in June was described at the time by dumped minister Darren Chester as "the greatest act of political treachery in 100 years of the National Party".

The timing of Mr Joyce's move on his predecessor may have been a surprise, but his desire to return as Deputy Prime Minister certainly wasn't. Nor was the way he used climate change to do it.

"I understand that people have their strong views, and that is the nature of politics," he told The Canberra Times.

"Anybody who goes into politics knows the ticket they are buying. Anybody. And it's good and it's bad and it's discourteous and it's noble. That is politics."

Mr Joyce hasn't given an outright "no" to Australia striving for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but he is looking for a Coalition deal with the Prime Minister which will be beneficial to farmers.

"I am the politician, I'm not the scientist, and I'm not the environment minister," Mr Joyce said. "Come forward with what you intend to do. Allow me the grace to talk to my colleagues who talk to their constituents.

"Let us, clearly, work through who gets hurt and ask the question, 'is that fair?'"

"I am not walking around with my fingers in my ears. I am listening. But let's see people over-read that and say 'Oh he's listening, see, he will agree to anything'. No, don't say that.

"So what's [my] answer right now? Well, my answer right now is 'no', of course, because you haven't come forward with anything."

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Mr Joyce said he was "incredibly blessed" to have been the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia three separate times (his first stint was split in two by the section 44 citizenship saga) as "no one else has ever done that", and he said he knew the job "better than just about anybody".

His return to the party leadership came with the baggage of a very public affair with a former staffer, a marriage break-up, and an accusation of sexual harassment which he strenuously denies. Many Nationals women expect a strong backlash from female voters when they are next given the chance.

Mr Joyce knows this, and accepts his lot.

"I understand the persona I presented the public, and maybe one things I've learned is that that was colourful, but not helpful," he said. "'How have I changed?' is another question. Have you seen major colour pieces on me? Specials on television? 60 Minutes? No.

"Another reason I have changed: I have got two young boys. That was five years and two boys ago. Things move on. They will move on. You get older, you get wiser, you learn from your experience. That and a whole range of other reasons means you change."

Whether he will get a fourth go at being Deputy Prime Minister is, ultimately, for the voters to decide.

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