Labor to call on PM Malcolm Turnbull to sack his Deputy Barnaby Joyce

LABOR will today call for the Prime Minister to sack Barn­aby Joyce, prosecuting the case that he is in breach of the ministerial code of conduct for “seeking or encouraging” a gift in his “personal capacity” in parliament.

LABOR will today call for the Prime Minister to sack Barn­aby Joyce, prosecuting the case that he is in breach of the ministerial code of conduct for “seeking or encouraging” a gift in his “personal capacity” in parliament.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has twice challenged Labor in Parliament to prove the Deputy Prime Minister has breached the ministerial code of conduct.

Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce accepted $12,000 worth of free accommodation from a small time National Party donor.

Today, Opposition Att­orney-General Mark Dreyfus will mount his case.

While MPs’ rules allow politicians to accept gifts from close friends, the ministerial standard is higher.

The Statement of Ministerial Standards on gifts states: “Ministers are required to exercise the functions of their public ­office unaffected by considerations of personal advantage or disadvantage.

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“Ministers, in their official cap­acity, may therefore accept cust­omary gifts, hos­pitality, tokens of appreciation and similar formal gestures in accordance with the relevant guidelines, but must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal capacity.”

Mr Joyce was provided a three-bedroom Armidale townhouse for six months, worth $460 a week or $11,960 in total, by millionaire and small-time Nats donor Greg Maguire.

Businessman Greg Maguire let Joyce stay at one of his properties rent-free for six months.

Mr Maguire said Mr Joyce had called him to ask for a place to stay, knowing he owned many residential buildings. Mr Maguire told him he did not have to pay rent.

The Daily Telegraph is not suggesting Mr Maguire has ­engaged in any wrongdoing.

Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion in pictures

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Mr Dreyfus said the ministerial code of conduct existed to ensure ministers did not have a conflict of interest, and “Joyce has a massive conflict here”.

“Reports show that Barnaby Joyce rang up his rich mate and asked for a place to live. He received a lavish $460-per-week townhouse for free and continued to benefit from that gift as Deputy Prime Minister.

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will call on the PM to sack his Deputy Barnaby Joyce.

“If Turnbull fails to uphold his own standards and sack Barnaby Joyce today then it will show he has no integrity and no leadership,” he said.

Mr Joyce’s spokesman said he used the apartment periodically during the New England by-election campaign, which would be routinely declared in the October electoral returns.

Powerhouse Motor Inn donated $2500 to NSW Nationals MP for Tamworth Kevin Anderson in 2011. The inn is owned by Finkpine Pty Ltd, which is owned by Mr Maguire’s New England Milk Industries.

Originally published as Labor to call on PM Malcolm Turnbull to sack his Deputy Barnaby Joyce