Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion tell all in $150k interview, as former Deputy PM’s expenses still under investigation
BARNABY Joyce has been labelled a “pimp” and a “first-class grub” by a senior NSW Liberal after last night’s interview on Channel 7.
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FORMER deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has been branded a “pimp” and a “first class grub” by a senior NSW minister for selling his story to a commercial television network.
NSW Corrections Minister David Elliott took to Facebook after Mr Joyce’s interview with former staffer turned partner Vikki Campion about their affair and new baby.
“Hey Barnaby, maybe YOU should be paying for Sebastian’s education and health care, like every other Aussie Dad, instead of prostituting your story to raise money for a “trust” that he can access at his convenience,” Mr Elliott wrote on Facebook.
Mr Joyce and Ms Campion received $150,000 for the interview.
Mr Elliott hash-tagged the post with “pimp MP”. The Liberal MP went on to describe Mr Joyce as a “first-class grub” in the comments section. “I love Celine Dion but didn’t walk out on my family to chase her,” he wrote. “I know at least a few children who will suffer thanks to their father being a pimp.”
TIMELINE: Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion relationship
RELATED: Joyce affair was an open secret in Canberra
MORE: PM quizzed over Joyce affair
Barnaby attempts to claim the paternity “grey area†line was a joint decision with Vikki. Vikki tells him on national TV he’s dreaming.
— BenFordham (@BenFordham) June 3, 2018
“I’m not going to drag other people into it...†Barnaby says, when asked about his family.
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) June 3, 2018
Mr Joyce is currently on national television, talking about his affair.
I think that ship has sailed #auspol #thatinterview
Asked whether she condoned her minister’s language, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was “his personal opinion”.
“I’ll just leave it at that,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters today.
Mr Joyce and Ms Campion have been slammed on social media over the controversial interview.
Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie made his thoughts on last night’s “tell-all” interview on current affairs program Sunday Night very clear.
“Politics & journalism are currently facing a crisis of confidence. Democracy only survives & prospers if journalism is fair but fearless,” Mr Beattie wrote on Twitter. “Tonight’s soft ch 7 story on Barnaby fails that test. I am thankfully retired from politics. Tonight’s story could only be described as crap.”
Journalist Ben Fordham had a crack at Mr Joyce’s infamous “grey area” comment.
“Barnaby attempts to claim the paternity ‘grey area’ line was a joint decision with Vikki. Vikki tells him on national TV he’s dreaming.”
Fellow journo Matthew Doran pointed to Mr Joyce’s comment about not dragging other people into the situation.
“‘I’m not going to drag other people into it …’ Barnaby says, when asked about his family.
Mr Joyce is currently on national television, talking about his affair. I think that ship has sailed #auspol #thatinterview.”
“Oh boy you caused some problems†Barnaby Joyce says about looking into his little baby’s blue eyes.
— Georgina Dent (@georgiedent) June 3, 2018
Barnaby, your son didn’t cause *any* problems. He is a newborn. An innocent baby. Any problems you face are of your making - not his. 🤯🤯🤯 #barnababy
To vote Barnaby off the island text "CARP" to 94811111 #SN7 #BarnabyJoyce
— Dan Ilic (@danilic) June 3, 2018
Some viewers wondered why Mr Joyce wasn’t asked about other issues, including Ms Campion’s employment and the misuse of taxpayer dollars.
The fact #sundaynight did not question #barnabyjoyce on any issues around misuse of tax payers money (aka our money) should concern us all. As was often said - it’s about the #rortsnotroots #auspol
— Denise Shrivell (@deniseshrivell) June 3, 2018
Aren't they completely missing the point?? We want to know how Vicki got that high paying job? Was is because of joyce and their relationship #sundaynight #BarnabyJoyce
— Once in a Blue Moon (@Blue_Moon_It_Is) June 3, 2018
Mr Joyce’s comment that baby Sebastian “caused some problems” was also met with scorn.
“Barnaby, your son didn’t cause *any* problems. He is a newborn. An innocent baby. Any problems you face are of your making — not his. #barnababy,” said Georgina Dent.
“This is just disgusting,” added SBS’s Jenny Brockie. “That poor, poor child. Imagine him watching this when he’s a teenager. #BarnabyJoyce #auspol.”
Mr Joyce was also called out for saying he can’t enforce his view on others, despite being a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage.
“Didn’t stop him trying to do just that during the SSM postal vote, though,” Jerome Doraisamy tweeted.
#BarnabyJoyce: "You know, and I can't enforce my views on other people."
— Alana Calvert (@AlanaCalvert) June 3, 2018
Except when it's LGBTQI couples or young women wanting the national immunisation vaccine that protects us from the virus that causes 70 per cent of cervical cancers. #sundaynight https://t.co/YRk1WrXNLi
So Barnaby Joyce apparently couldn't help who he fell in love with, unlike the 'lifestyle choices' he claimed LGBT Australians are apparently making. #auspol #BarnabyJoyce #SundayNight
— Tom Savage (@tomsavage95) June 3, 2018
The Sunday Night interview attracted just 631,000 viewers Australia wide, coming in behind ABC’s new drama series Mystery Road (786,000), MasterChef (781,000) and David Attenborough’s Tasmania (750,000).
I love you Australia. More people watched David Attenborough's Tasmania, than THAT Joyce interview last night. #Greens pic.twitter.com/OrzW1VuKgx
— Peter Whish-Wilson (@SenatorSurfer) June 3, 2018
BARNABY AND VIKKI ‘PRESSURED’ TO TERMINATE PREGNANCY
Vikki Campion and Barnaby Joyce have claimed “conservative” figures in The National Party pressured her to abort their baby.
The couple refused to name the “scum-of-the-earth” who pressured them to terminate the pregnancy during their $150,000 paid television interview this evening.
But in the emotional, tell-all interview on Channel 7’s Sunday Night program both claimed Ms Campion faced pressure to end the pregnancy while she was in Parliament.
“I wouldn’t want to tar the brush of everyone in the National Party as like that, at all … That’s the absolute scum-of-the-earth people that you can involve yourself with,” Mr Joyce said of the individuals involved.
He claimed it was the kind of “dark and horrible” thing that happened inside “that mad boarding school” of Parliament House.
“Their contribution to it is they’re gonna try and make an incredibly difficult situation almost unbearable by saying to you that, “Woman, you will do this if you want a career in this place.” And that’s … that’s your Australian Parliament,” Mr Joyce said.
Ms Campion said the pressure came from people who were outwardly “conservative” within the Parliament.
“They came to me. They said … ‘You’re pregnant’ and ‘You have to get an abortion’.
“And … I said, you know ‘It’s too late. It has … it has a heartbeat.’
“And they said, ‘If you don’t, they’re gonna come after you.’ And they did.”
The Nationals federal director Ben Hindmarsh told News Corp when promotional clips of the interview aired during the week that the National Party organisation had “no knowledge of the issue raised by Network Seven”.
Ms Campion, who gave birth to Sebastian Curtis Scott Joyce in April, also spoke about her very real struggle with the decision of whether to have an abortion when she learnt she was pregnant with the Deputy Prime Minister’s child.
“Barnaby is strongly pro-life. I, you know, believe that a woman has a right over her own body up to a point — certainly up until the baby has a heartbeat.
“I thought, ‘Well, maybe I should just take matters into my own hands and, uh … basically save everything from happening.”
“And I tried and I couldn’t go through with that.”
Ms Campion revealed how she walked into a clinic but couldn’t go through with her decision.
Mr Joyce tried to comfort her, saying that she shouldn’t feel bad about herself.
“This is a drama that so many people go through. I’m never ever going to accuse anybody of, you know, making that decision. I can understand that people are under incredible, incredible pressure. And Vikki more than most. You know, and I can’t enforce my views on other people.”
Mr Joyce claimed he knew instantly that he would lose his job as Deputy Prime Minister when he learnt he was having a son with his ex-staffer.
“Well, look, I’ll be really frank. I don’t believe in abortion, so I just knew straight away that basically that at that point I had … My job was … I was gonna lose my job as the deputy prime minister and that was … And that was in front. And you know what? All I was doing is just hoping and praying for a healthy … healthy baby,” he said.
The couple repeatedly apologised to the “innocent” parties they had injured during the one-hour interview.
Mr Joyce refused to speak about the “gory details” of his marriage breakdown with his wife of 23 years, Natalie, but he insisted it was his fault.
He said he did not care about the political fallout but knew he had hurt his wife and four daughters.
“I was in the wrong. I expected, you know, people to be bitterly disappointed … with the breakdown of my marriage. I was very mindful of that. You know, I failed. I failed, I failed. I failed, I failed.
“And … I’m sorry. The biggest failure of my life was the failure of my marriage. I’m very aware of that.”
Ms Campion also said: “I’m so sorry that so many innocent people were hurt and were dragged through this.”
During their interview, both Mr Joyce and Ms Campion hit out at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for the press conference he held in February announcing the so-called bonk bank for ministers and their staff.
Mr Turnbull had said Mr Joyce made a “shocking error of judgment” by having a relationship with a woman in his office.
The interview sparked a damaging public spat between the PM and his deputy at the time.
Tonight, a clearly angry Mr Joyce said: “I don’t think that will ever be his Gettysburg Address, will it?”
“I never expected a gold star and I did not expect the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia to go and do a doorstop on it. That was … wrong,” he said.
“Generally what happens in these things is you … you admonish someone privately, and you support them publicly. That’s the sort of golden rule.
“And, uh, you know, this was all back-to-front.”
Ms Campion added that: “You can chew out your vice-captain in the locker room, but not on the field.”
In one of the few awkward moments in their interview, the couple addressed Mr Joyce’s bizarre claim that the paternity of Ms Campion’s baby was a “grey area”.
“There were so many people who were close to me who said, ‘What on earth possessed you to say that?,” Mr Joyce said before acknowledging the media scrutiny had prompted him to speak out and say “something crazy”.
Ms Campion said she had been “deeply hurt” by the claim.
In another awkward moment, Mr Joyce claimed he was more responsible for their affair because he was “the adult”.
“I’m an adult too,” Ms Campion responded.
“Yeah, well … I suppose … I just think it’s … we should have … I don’t like them looking at you, saying, ‘Oh, you know, the scarlet woman, you know, it takes two to tango, and I was … And I was part of that,” Mr Joyce said.
The interview became confrontational when Mr Joyce was asked to state when the couple began their romantic relationship and who made the first move.
The Nationals MP hit back at reporter Alex Cullen, asking when he met his wife.
Later, he said their relationship had evolved “organically” with no defined date.
But he acknowledged there was something between himself and Ms Campion when he took wife Natalie to the Press Gallery Mid-Winter Ball at Parliament House on June 14 last year.
Ms Campion also hit out at The Daily Telegraph, her former newspaper, for exposing their relationship with a photograph of her pregnant.
“I accept that there were public interest questions, definitely. Um, however, I think that the way that they did it was wrong.”
She claimed her friends and family were harassed by reporters.
The couple claimed their love affair wasn’t extraordinary.
“I think that we’re very boring. People fall in love with their friends, and, you know, in workplaces, they fall in love with their subordinates and their bosses and their colleagues,” Ms Campion said.
Mr Joyce said he was still a human being, even though he was Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Campion initially said she was nervous speaking out but wanted the profits of media attention to go to her son.
“As far as I see it, everybody else is making money out of Sebastian, except for Sebastian,” she said.
“So I think he deserves, you know … Everyone else is making money out of this kid, except for him, so let’s actually take some of that, put it in a trust and then he can use that for his education and his health. Neither of us can access it.”
THE DARK CLOUD HANGING OVER BARNABY
BarnabyJoyce’s expense claims remain under investigation four months after his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion was exposed.
An investigation into the former Deputy Prime Minister’s travel with Ms Campion was launched by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority in February after their affair was revealed by The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Joyce has previously stated publicly that he’s confident the investigation will find no wrongdoing.
News Corp can confirm the watchdog’s investigation into Mr Joyce’s claims is still ongoing and the results may never be made public.
IPEA chief executive Annwyn Godwin confirmed the authority currently has two “formal audits” into MPs’ expense claims underway.
One is an investigation into Mr Joyce’s claims.
Ms Godwin told Parliament last month that, in both cases, the investigations could not progress until the IPEA received “a range of information” it had sought from third parties.
She also revealed that the IPEA had yet to decide whether it would make the results of the investigation public.
Once the report was finalised, it would be up to the authority’s members to decide whether to publish them fully.
“They may choose to publish it. They may choose to publish part of it. They may not choose to publish at all,” she told a Parliamentary estimates hearing.
Mr Joyce’s case and the other case currently under investigation are the first formal audits the watchdog has conducted since being established last year, and as such there is no precedent for how to publicly disclose the results.
Ms Godwin also confirmed both formal audits were launched after media reports.
“We went through a process of doing first checks … and decided there was something further we needed to look at so it has actually gone through a process,” she told the estimates hearing.
She refused to say whether the investigation would take weeks or months to finalise.
The IPEA’s website says when dealing with a concern about an expense claim, it will not generally “provide information on progress or any actions taken”.
On penalties, the IPEA says if the concern is “relatively minor”, it can address any breaches with “administrative action”.
The authority can also refer matters to the Australian Federal Police if it sees a need.
Mr Joyce said in February his expense claims had already been thoroughly probed and nothing had been found.
“It’s just another poring through of what’s already been gone through,” he said at the time.
Mr Joyce is currently on personal leave from his parliamentary duties until June 15.