Wife of Barnaby Joyce ‘hurt’ by news of baby with ex-staffer
THE estranged wife of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says the news her husband is having a baby with his former staffer is “devastating”, saying she put her life “on hold” to support his political career.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
DEPUTY Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s wife Natalie has told of the “deceit” and “hurt” she suffered at learning he is expecting a child with a younger woman who worked in his office.
In a stinging rebuke aimed at the man she has stood by for more than two decades, Mrs Joyce, who has four daughters with the National Party leader, said she had put her own career on hold to support him and had been forced to share their family life with politics — only to have her trust shattered.
RELATED:
THE POWER AND PASSION IN PARLIAMENT
“I am deeply saddened that my husband is now having a child with a former staff member,” Mrs Joyce said.
“I understand this affair has been going on for many months and started when she was a paid employee.
“This situation is devastating on many fronts — for my girls who are affected by the family breakdown and for me as a wife of 24 years, who placed my own career on hold to support Barnaby through his political life.”
Friends say news of the affair with former staffer Vikki Campion, 33, who is expecting the couple’s child in April, left Mrs Joyce reeling.
She and her daughters left the family home to stay with relatives in a bid to escape the public eye.
In a statement released to The Daily Telegraph, Mrs Joyce said: “Our family life has had to be shared during Barnaby’s political career and it was with trust that we let campaign and office staff into our homes and into our lives.
“Naturally we also feel deceived and hurt by the actions of Barnaby and the staff member involved.
MAN UP, BARNABY — YOU COULD HAVE HANDLED THIS BETTER
“The situation for myself and the girls will be made worse by the fact that this will all be played out in public so, at this time, I would ask that the girls and I are given some privacy and time to come to terms with the consequences.”
Mr Joyce, 50, has set up home with Ms Campion after months of confessing to friends he is “madly in love”.
News of his new relationship and impending fatherhood has upset many in the New England electorate where Mr Joyce was a popular conservative, who campaigned on family values and opposed same-sex marriage.
It was during the parliamentary debate on marriage that he revealed his 24-year marriage was over.
Mr and Mrs Joyce met while studying at the University of New England and married in 1993. She once revealed the then-brash rugby player had chatted her up while in a ute at a car rally for O Week, saying “You’ll do.”
The couple have four daughters — Bridgette, 20, Julia, 19, Caroline, 17, and Odette, 15 — and Mrs Joyce has previously told of the impact his political career has had on the family.
“Every time he’d come home (Odette) actually wouldn’t go near him because he hadn’t been home,” she told The Australian.
The girls reportedly had to call his personal assistant to gain access to their father, which Mrs Joyce described as “really sad”.
Mr Joyce has described the guilt he felt for not being there for his family — he spent only 22 nights in his own bed in his first year as a senator.