Editorial: Public has a right to know what Canberra does
THE Daily Telegraph believes, and the overwhelming reaction of our readers confirms, the deputy Prime Minister’s new relationship and impending fatherhood are valid matters of public interest.
Opinion
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ELEVEN years ago, current Media Watch host Paul Barry wrote a book about former Australian cricketing great Shane Warne. It was an extraordinary work, containing all manner of conjecture about Warne’s private life and that of his former wife Simone.
“Shane had met Simone Callahan at a celebrity golf day in Melbourne in 1992, where she was working as a Foster’s girl, no doubt clad in short skirt, white boots and skimpy top, handing beer to the players,” one passage theorised.
“By common consent, she (Simone) is polite, pleasant, nice, lovely, uncomplicated and sincere. But everyone agrees she is also a bit slow on the uptake.”
Barry arrived at these notions despite never speaking to Warne or his ex-wife. Likewise, Barry felt comfortable publishing a claim that Warne might have slept with 1000 women, based merely on comments from unnamed “friends”. Extracts from the book were published in the Fairfax press. Some took exception to what seemed to be Barry’s unfair intrusion on very private matters.
Barry subsequently defended himself. “The sex is in the book because it has constantly got Warne into trouble and has repeatedly put him on the front pages of newspapers here and in England,” he wrote. “I don’t think you can deal with Shane Warne’s life without having some of the scandal in it.”
Alternatively, it may be that you can’t deal with Shane Warne’s life without having some Shane Warne in it — a requirement Paul Barry easily dispensed with. The controversy quickly passed, possibly because of a widespread view the private lives of public figures — athletes, musicians, film stars — are, to a certain degree, of legitimate interest to the public.
When people trade on their public appeal, it is fair that their appeal be measured against the reality of those individuals’ lives.
Yet a strange querulousness emerges throughout much of media when it comes to applying those same standards to politicians. This is despite politicians being more embedded as public figures than any celebrity; politicians, after all, are on the public payroll, implement policies that will affect the public and determining the outcomes of issues debated by the public. Which brings us to the reaction in some quarters to The Daily Telegraph’s front page story yesterday revealing Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is expecting a baby with his former staff member Vikki Campion.
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“The Labor Party has made no public statement about Mr Joyce’s personal situation for the last six months — despite the fact it has been well known in this building — and we are not about to start today,” shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said.
“Frankly, his personal situation is none of my business and, with respect, it is none of anybody else’s business.”
Well, apart from everyone in Parliament House, who were obviously talking about it.
Apparently this story was of great interest in that building, but no business at all for the people paying the salaries of Joyce and his ex-staff member.
“I think this is a very dark day when women can be paparazzi snapped and spread all over the national media when they are pregnant, for no other reason than who their partner happens to be,” Greens MP Adam Bandt complained.
To repeat, for Bandt’s benefit: the salaries of both Joyce and Campion, a former senior Daily Telegraph reporter, are (or were, in Campion’s case) publicly funded.
Additionally, we are not talking about an obscure politician. Barnaby Joyce is the Deputy Prime Minister and issues involving him, particularly those requiring the attention of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are of legitimate concern to the public.
There’s a seeming exceptionalism for politicians. Entertain the public by bowling out Englishmen and your private life is fair game, even if you have no direct sources. Represent the public, however, and everything remains in-house.
The Daily Telegraph believes, and the overwhelming reaction of our readers confirms, the Deputy Prime Minister’s new relationship and impending fatherhood are valid matters of public interest. Furthermore, The Daily Telegraph believes matters discussed frequently and in detail in Parliament should not be concealed.
Also, unlike Paul Barry in his 2006 book, no one is questioning the quality of our sources.