The Sauce: Barnaby Joyce’s rift with daughters may be over
FORMER Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce was spotted dining with two of his four daughters at a Canberra steakhouse last week. So is their relationship on the mend after he split with their mum to be with his new partner and son?
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FAMILY FEUD OVER
THE frosty relationship between Barnaby Joyce and his daughters appears to be thawing.
The former Nationals leader was spotted dining with two of his four girls at a Canberra steakhouse last week.
Only months ago Mr Joyce’s daughters Bridgette, 21, Julia, 20, Caroline, 18, and Odette, 15, were said to be outraged about their dad’s affair and subsequent tell-all interview with new partner Vikki Campion.
There were also rumours that one of Mr Joyce’s daughters was spotted “campaigning” against her dad in main street of Tamworth with nothing more than a loud speaker and some profanities.
But it appears time — and the promise of a good steak — can heal all wounds.
The Sauce wonders if the meal was enough to entice the Joyce girls to join the congregation at today’s christening in Armidale for their baby stepbrother Sebastian.
PEACEKEEPING MISSION
TWO warring state MPs have kissed and made up. After a long-running dispute on development in his northwest Sydney electorate, Corrections and Counter Terrorism Minister David Elliott and his colleague, Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, are ministerial mates again.
The Sauce understands the men shared a few drinks on a recent trip to Bougainville, where they had both served in the military operation Bel Isi.
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Twenty years later, they both returned for a peacekeeping mission of a different kind.
In a Facebook post, Elliott wrote: “This will be a special few days for us …”
And it certainly was.
HIGH PRICE
WHILE there is no rule about MPs having to live in their electorates, eyebrows are being raised at the taxpayer cost of ferrying Environment Minister Melissa Price from her luxury home in Perth to her office in Geraldton and back.
Latest federal parliamentarian expense figures show Price, who lives in Liberal MP Ian Goodenough’s seat of Moore, cost taxpayers $94,701 in flights to and from her home and the office between July 1, 2015, and March 31 this year.
The bill includes $17,381 in day trips, of which $6287 were chartered flights.
The cost excludes transportation to Ms Price’s other electorate office in Broome.
UBER FAN
IT’S a far cry from “choppergate”. Three years after the expenses scandal, Bronwyn Bishop is now resorting to more common means of transport.
The former Liberal MP was spotted last Sunday outside Bathers’ Pavilion at Balmoral, in lower north shore Sydney, waiting for an … Uber.
Even though the weather was cold and windy, Ms Bishop — with her trademark hairstyle firmly in place — insisted on waiting outside for her Uber, despite a male friend asking her to “come back inside, it’s freezing”.
With her recent transition from helicopters to ridesharing, The Sauce hopes Ms Bishop’s Uber rating is sky high.
GRIMM NEWS
SIX months out from the state election and Western Sydney Minister Stuart Ayres is on the hunt for a new media spinner.
Vanessa Grimm, a former Sky News presenter, will leave his office next month to take up the role of corporate affairs manager at Sydney Trains.
With Ayres’ seat of Penrith one of the key battlegrounds for the Berejiklian government, the new candidate will certainly have their work cut out for them. Anyone want to sell WestConnex and the M4 toll?
PM POACHING
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison has poached two media advisers from his cabinet colleagues, a month after taking the top job.
It will come as a relief to his overworked and underslept team of two, who have been fielding media inquiries for a month while searching for an extra set of hands. Highly regarded spinner Ben Wicks will move to the Prime Minister’s office next month after working as senior media adviser to Greg Hunt.
The Sauce understands Nick Creevey, who was the senior media adviser in minister Simon Birmingham’s office, will also join Wicks in the PMO press team. Creevey formerly worked as a spinner for the Commonwealth Bank.
POLITICAL PARACHUTE
HE didn’t win the seat of Wagga Wagga earlier this month but Dan Hayes has made his mark at Labor HQ in Sydney.
The councillor will run again at next year’s state election, with talk he would be parachuted into the Upper House if he loses.
A Labor insider said: “His stocks are very much on the rise.” The next real competition for Hayes, who stands at 193cm (six foot four inches), is Tough Mudder in November. The 20km race in mud should be a walk in the park compared with campaigning.
feng shui needed
IN a rather awkward alignment of stars, warring frontbencher Ray Williams and Premier Gladys Berejiklian have both confirmed their attendance at a Moon Festival to be held in Cabramatta today. With the Premier rather cranky at Williams for declaring he would move a spill motion against Treasurer Dominic “I hate traffic” Perrottet for nominating for his seat, organisers will be working hard to balance the feng shui.