Barnaby Joyce statement: I’m deeply sorry
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has distanced himself from Barnaby Joyce in Question Time, but insists he retains full confidence in the Deputy Prime Minister amid Mr Joyce’s public apology to his wife, daughters and girlfriend about the hurt his affair has caused them.
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MALCOLM Turnbull has distanced himself from under fire Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, saying it was up to Mr Joyce alone to address questions about the facts of his relationship with a former staffer.
In response to a query from Labor, which re-launched its attack on Mr Joyce in Question Time on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said he still retained confidence in Mr Joyce.
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But when pushed further — on whether he stood by the comments of a staffer from his own office that ministerial standards had not been breached because Vikki Campion was not Mr Joyce’s official partner at the time of her appointment to roles in fellow MPs offices — Mr Turnbull said the statements were not authorised by him.
“All ministers are bound by the ministerial standards and the Deputy Prime Minister has today explained his circumstances as it relates to the standards and I refer you to that statement,” Mr Turnbull said.
“And I would add this — whether somebody is a partner of another for the purposes of clause 2.23 is of course a question of fact.
“The facts of the relationship which you’re referring to are of course known to the Deputy Prime Minister.
It is his responsibility to address it and comply with the standards.
“And he’s answered that, he’s addressed that in his statement today.”
Mr Turnbull then dodged Labor’s next question over whether Mr Joyce’s conduct met his standards for the behaviour of his ministers.
Section 2.23 of the Ministerial standards set out in 2015 states: “Ministers’ close relatives and partners are not to be appointed to positions in their ministerial or electorate offices, and must not be employed in the offices of other members of the Executive Government without the Prime Minister’s express approval.”
It adds: “A close relative or partner of a Minister is not to be appointed to any position in an agency in the Minister’s own portfolio if the appointment is subject to the agreement of the Minister or Cabinet.”
Mr Turnbull later added members of parliament could “draw their own convolutions” about the facts Mr Joyce had provided today but he said Labor had not made a case that there was a breach of ministerial standards.
It came after Labor called on Mr Turnbull to explicitly define what “partner” meant.
“Partner is not defined in the relevant ministerial standards but the standard definition, for example the Department of Human Services, says a partner is considered to be a partner if you and the person are together or usually live together and are married or in a registered relationship or a de facto relationship,” Mr Turnbull said.
The attack then continued with another question from Mr Shorten, who asked if the Prime Minister had complete confidence that the Deputy Prime Minister’s allocation of staffing positions met the high standards expected of his ministers.
“The honourable member has not made any case to support the proposition that the staff movements he’s referring to were in breach of the ministerial code,” Mr Turnbull responded.
“The question of the question of whether the staff member concerned was a ‘partner’ is a question of fact. “As I said in response to the member for Isaacs (Mark Dreyfus), the Deputy Prime Minister has set out the facts.
“Members can form their own conclusion about that but I’ve provided the description of partner and it is essentially a co-habitation, a marriage-like relationship, hence the term of marriage or de facto.
“So I think the circumstances are clear but the honourable member has not been able to establish a breach of the ministerial standards or alleged one.”
Mr Joyce, who sat reading silently through documents on the frontbencher for the majority of Question Time, was also questioned on his infrastructure portfolio but not on the staffing arrangements for the Nationals.
Mr Joyce say stony-faced through a joke question from Labor MP Richard Marles, who said:
“Today, the Leader of the National Party has resigned.”
“I understand he’s a New Zealander named Bill English.
“Would the PM perhaps, for the first time this week, like to reflect on the legacy of a former leader of the National Party?”
Mr Turnbull said he would take the opportunity to reflect on Mr English’s career although he noted Mr Marles’ motives were “hardly pure in asking”.
TURNBULL PHONES NATS BACKBENCHERS
Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly been gauging whether Nationals backbenchers still support Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce as leader of their party.
In a sign of how damaging the scandal surrounding Mr Joyce’s affair with a former staffer has become, the Prime Minister phoned Nationals backbenchers before 7am this morning to gauge their continued support for him, Sky News reports.
One Nationals MP, Queenslander Ken O’Dowd, has even publicly suggested today that Mr Joyce would soon lose the leadership.
Amid growing calls from Labor and the Greens for Mr Joyce to resign, Mr O’Dowd told local radio station 4CC Gladstone that he would put his hand up to replace Mr Joyce as leader once he stepped down.
“Look it’s going to open,” he said.
“I’m not predicting that anything’s going to happen today but if it does there’s going to be a lot of guys with their hands up, and I might just be one of those.”
Most Nationals MPs have so far publicly expressed support for Mr Joyce to remain leader after a partyroom meeting yesterday, although a number anonymously expressed concerns about the impact the scandal would have on the party at the weekend.
Mr Joyce directly addressed the scandal at a joint Coalition partyroom meeting this morning.
“Everyone in politics goes through a time of trial,” Mr Joyce told the partyroom, Sky News reports.
“This is mine, but I’ll emerge from it,” he said.
JOYCE: I’M DEEPLY SORRY
BARNABY Joyce has publicly apologised to his wife, daughters and girlfriend about the hurt his affair with the former staffer has caused them in a statement at Parliament House this morning.
The Deputy Prime Minister has also rejected any suggestion the ministerial standards were breached when his girlfriend and former staffer Vikki Campion was appointed to two roles in other MPs office last year.
“I would like to say to Natalie how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt this has caused,” he said.
“To my girls, how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt that it has caused them.
“To Vikki Campion, how deeply sorry I am that she has been dragged into this.
“I would like to also say to my supporters and people in my electorate how deeply sorry I am that this personal issue - deeply personal issue - has gone into the public arena.”
The Nationals leader did not take questions during the statement but addressed the misconduct reports that emerged today.
“It’s not something that I’m unaware of. They’ve had it on social media for years. It’s just, in the past, I don’t believe it dignified a response,” he said.
Mr Joyce said the claims had been pedalled by a rival but declined to name the person.
Questions were raised yesterday over whether ministerial standards were breached when Ms Campion, who will give birth to his child in April, was appointed to roles in the offices of Resource Minister Matthew Canavan and Nationals MP Damian Drum last year.
Today, Mr Joyce denied there was any breach over the roles.
“I am very aware of the Ministerial Code of Conduct,” Mr Joyce said.
“It is without a shadow of a doubt that Vikki Campion is my partner now. But when she worked in my office, she was not my partner.
“When she worked in Matt Canavan’s office, she was not my partner. And Damian Drum was not a minister.”
He added: “I think this is vitally important in how we differentiate between the public and the private.”
Earlier today, Mr Joyce told ABC he would not step down as leader of the Nationals party, amid calls for him to resign following the affair scandal with his former staffer.
EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT JOYCE AFFAIR: DASTYARI
OUSTED Labor senator Sam Dastyari claims “everyone” knew about Mr Joyce’s affair and has made threats to out other conservative MPs who were “f***ing around”.
Mr Dastyari, who was forced to resign from the Senate after warning a Chinese donor he may be under surveillance, claimed he had to resign from Parliament for “a lot less”.
“Hey Barnaby Joyce, I went for a LOT less. Quit while you are behind,” he wrote on Twitter last night. “Trust me — it only gets a LOT worse from here.”
Mr Dastyari appeared to attack claims from the Prime Minister’s office that Malcolm Turnbull was unaware of the affair, and assurances there was no breach in rules of Ms Campion being granted jobs in Mr Joyce’s and other Nationals MP’s offices because she was not his partner.
“Everyone. And I mean EVERYONE in federal Parliament knew about Vicki and Barnaby. Anyone who claims they didn’t is either bulls***ing or so out of touch they shouldn’t be in Parliament,” he said.
Mr Dastyari argued Ms Campion’s job relocation from Mr Joyce’s office to work for other Nationals MPs was “a clear breach of the rules”.
“We all assumed it would come out during the by-election,” he said.
“For f***s sake — how can you construe the pregnant woman Barnaby left his wife for as NOT his partner. Who was she then?”
Today, Mr Joyce denied there was any breach of the rules.
HANSON: JOYCE HAS A DECISION TO MAKE
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says Barnaby Joyce has a “moral decision” to make about whether he remains leader of the Nationals or steps up as acting Prime Minister next week.
Senator Hanson said she would not comment on his private life, but Mr Joyce and the Nationals had a decision to make.
“He’s not just a backbencher, he’s actually deputy Prime Minister of this country,” she said.
“Do the people hold him in trust and faith to take over the reins of running this country when the Prime Minister leaves next week?
“The Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has to look at his actions. He has to make the decision.
“I’m not going to encourage him or tell him what he should be doing.
“It’s a moral decision. Has he done the wrong thing by the people of Australia? He must decide what action he has to take.”
LIBERALS TURN ON JOYCE, SAYING HE CAN’T BE ACTING PM NEXT WEEK
ANGRY Liberal MPs are losing patience with Barnaby Joyce and are pressuring Nationals colleagues to dump their leader before he becomes Acting Prime Minister next week.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday Mr Joyce would act as PM while he was in the United States meeting President Donald Trump.
But the Herald Sun understands a growing group of Liberals are fed up with the Deputy Prime Minister, following revelations that he is expecting a baby with his former media adviser, Vikki Campion.
Asked how Mr Joyce would perform if he was in charge next week, a Liberal MP said “about as well as he did in front of the High Court” — a reference to the court’s ruling that forced Mr Joyce to recontest his seat because he was a dual citizen.
Liberals say his affair, which ended a 24-year marriage, has caused “total chaos” in the government.
One Liberal MP told the Herald Sun on Monday night he “has to go” before he gets “blown out of the water”.
Another compared the love-child scandal to the Bronwyn Bishop “Choppergate” saga, saying it was "sucking the oxygen” out of the government, and the “worst outcome” would be to drag it out by having Mr Joyce take over as Acting PM when Mr Turnbull flies out on February 21.
Nationals MPs met on Monday to hear Mr Joyce explain his situation. It is believed colleagues are angry, but not yet willing to dump him as leader.
But that could change should there be further revelations.
One Nationals MP said Mr Joyce was “deluded” if he thought he could survive if the scandal widened.
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Liberals said his affair had exposed the government to a questioning by voters of their “moral platform”.
One said: “It’s the beginning of the end once you’ve lost your moral authority.”
Another MP said: “If it goes on for too long, then it can completely drag down the government because we’re defending what’s morally indefensible.”
A third said the affair was “so icky, and we are all being tarnished”. The MP said: “Most of our constituents just think we’re a sex party.”
Amid questions about whether new jobs had been created for Ms Campion in the offices of Nationals MPs Matt Canavan and Damian Drum, Mr Turnbull told the House of Representatives the Nationals were below their total staffing allocation.
He said Mr Joyce had not discussed Ms Campion’s employment “with me or my office” and that staffing decisions were “a matter for the National Party”.
A senior Liberal MP said the affair had been “an open secret” and that Ms Campion had been “kept in the system to keep her quiet”.
The government rejected claims that Mr Joyce had breached the ministerial code of conduct, which prohibits “close relatives or partners” getting jobs without the “express approval” of the Prime Minister.
Mr Drum said on Monday night no “new job” had been created when Ms Campion moved to his office, and it had then been “no longer an ongoing affair”.
Senior Labor figures said they hoped the drama “goes on for months” — suggesting that it would be a “disaster” for Mr Turnbull if Mr Joyce were to act as Prime Minister next week.
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