Joyce made his private life of public interest

AS soon as Barnaby Joyce made his conservative views on marriage part of his public platform his personal life became of public interest, writes Gary Nunn.

PUBLICATION of details of any politican’s personal life is always going to kick off a storm of debate.

News Corp yesterday confirmed Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, married with four kids, is now living with (now former) staffer, Vikki Campion, who is expecting his baby.

The rumours of their affair circulated around the Canberra press gallery for a while.

Some decried this — conveniently, before Joyce’s by-election, as “vicious rumour and innuendo.”

Some are now saying it isn’t newsworthy, even now — claiming a politician’s private life should remain private and journalists shouldn’t invade their personal or family affairs by publishing tawdry details.

And some are inferring the newsworthy part of this is the fact that Joyce is old enough to be Campion’s father.

No. Let me tell you the real, public interest and newsworthy part of this. It’s that Barnaby Joyce has made his conservative views on marriage part of his public platform.

He has described marriage as a “special relationship between a man and woman”.

Already on the public record as wanting to preserve the sanctity of marriage — Joyce went on to ABC’s Radio National in the early part of the postal ballot on marriage equality and said he “can’t stand” people campaigning for the Yes vote, warning them to “just get out of my face.”

Vikki Campion and Barnaby Joyce. (Source: Facebook)

In 2011 Joyce said his views of marriage were borne out of good clean fatherly protection for his four daughters: “We know that the best protection for those girls is that they get themselves into a secure relationship with a loving husband… I don’t want any legislator to take that right away from me.”

It’s bad enough that Joyce abstained from the final marriage equality vote — ignoring the 53 per cent majority of New England constituents who voted Yes.

That he did so while he was involved with a much younger staffer who will soon give birth to his child out of wedlock is beyond insulting, and reason enough to justify publication of these details of his personal life.

A pregnant Vikki Campion pictured in Canberra. (Pic: John Grainger)

Of course, the hypocrisy of MPs is nothing new. It happens on both sides of politics. My favourite recent example is UK Labour politician Shami Chakrabarti sending her son to a $31,000 a year school, while speaking out against selective schools and attempting to deny that privilege to all other parents. She defended it, bizarrely, by comparing it to her living in a big house rather than choosing to be homeless with her less fortunate neighbours on the streets.

How will Joyce defend his duplicity with so many damning quotes on the public record from him? It’s now every journalist’s responsibility to ask him this the next time he fronts up to plug his party’s newest policy.

Had the voters of New England known rumours about his personal life were more than just gossip before his successful December 2 by-election, would they have voted the same way?

Australia deserves better from the second most powerful person in our country.

Gary Nunn is a freelance writer.

@garynunn1