The former deputy prime minister chose not to attend Nationals party room meetings because of a dispute over climate policy, as parliament resumed for a fortnight.
The regional party is reviewing its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 but Mr Joyce believes his colleagues must abandon the policy without compromise.
Asked by one reporter whether his position on net zero was all or nothing, he 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?” Mr Joyce asked the journalist.
“By the way, I’m not a violent man.
“That was a metaphor, not a promise.”
Mr Joyce also refused to rule out rejoining the Nationals and said he’d make that decision “down the track”.
Speculation has been running rampant that the New England MP could defect to One Nation, possibly to take over as leader when Pauline Hanson retires.
Pressed at an earlier media conference on whether he would meet with Senator Hanson while parliament sat over the next fortnight, Mr Joyce said it was “a free country”.
“I'll meet with Pauline Hanson, I’ve met with Pauline Hanson before,” he told reporters 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 attend the Nationals party room , Mr Joyce said he would still sit with the regional party in parliament.
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