Woman alleges Barnaby Joyce ‘drunkenly pinched her bottom’ after awards ceremony
MALCOLM Turnbull’s top adviser was warned about the drunken public behaviour of Barnaby Joyce two years ago after a woman claimed the Deputy PM pinched her on the bottom following an official function.
A WOMAN claims National Party Leader Barnaby Joyce drunkenly pinched her on the bottom following a 2011 awards ceremony — an allegation denied by the MP and rejected by the Prime Minister’s office when it was raised four years later.
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The explosive allegation — involving Mr Joyce when he was in Opposition — was raised by a political rival with Malcolm Turnbull’s principal private secretary Sally Cray in December 2015 who said nothing could be done because no complaint had been made and there was no evidence that Mr Joyce had engaged in any wrongdoing.
The woman, a well respected community member, claims she approached Mr Joyce after expressing concerns over his interaction with another woman following the Rural Women’s Agricultural Awards in Canberra.
She told The Daily Telegraph last night: “I went over to the bar and he was very, very drunk and nearly falling over. I said ‘Barnaby, I think you should go home. You’re very drunk. He leant over and he pinched my bottom.”
Her claims were supported by John Clements — a former staff member for Joyce’s long-term political rival Tony Windsor.
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The other woman, whose initial encounter with Mr Joyce prompted the second woman to approach the MP, has strongly denied anything inappropriate took place.
A spokesman for Mr Joyce denied the incident happened, saying Mr Joyce did not attend a pub or nightclub after the awards.
He said the fact the claims came from a long-time political rival, should give everyone pause for thought.
Mr Clements claimed he confronted Mr Joyce after the incident.
“I was in the pub and a woman who I’ve known for a long time walked up to me, and she was rattled,” he said. “I’ve never seen her rattled and she said she had been pinched on the bum and she pointed at the man. It was Barnaby Joyce. I approached Joyce and asked him what he thought he was doing.”
Mr Clements raised the issue with Ms Cray, one of the Prime Minister’s closest confidantes. A text message exchange between Mr Clements and Ms Cray on 30 December 2015 — in the wake of allegations that Jamie Briggs kissed a female staff member — has been obtained by the Daily Telegraph. Mr Clements likened Mr Joyce’s behaviour to that of Mr Briggs and questioned why he had not been similarly disciplined.
In the text messages, Mr Clements described Mr Joyce as a “goose” and referred to “pinching bums.” “He was worse than drunk at a nightclub then any of these and he is still a minister,” he wrote. “All of (sic) record Sally. We will sort this goose out no report made to you.”
Ms Cray then appeared to compare the allegation involving Mr Joyce to the incident with Mr Briggs.
“Agree it’s all off record. It’s hard if there was not an official complaint at the time to act,” she wrote of the Joyce allegation.
“While I see that behaviour too is unacceptable, this one (the Briggs allegation) was very complex as it involved a junior officer and there was a workplace complaint which is the reason it came to light. Perhaps calling it out will make people think again (one can only hope.)”
It is understood that after Ms Cray received the text messages, she looked into the matter and raised it with Mr Joyce’s office.
After looking into the matter, it was clear that nobody had made a complaint and nobody claimed to be a victim. Had somebody made a complaint, an action would have been taken.
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