Nationals MP Damian Drum says he was unaware Barnaby Joyce was in ‘ongoing affair’
THE senior Nationals MP who appointed Barnaby Joyce’s lover to a highly paid role says he was aware they had been in a relationship but believed it was “no longer an ongoing affair”.
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A SENIOR Nationals MP who appointed Barnaby Joyce’s lover to the highest paid media role in his office said he was aware they had been in a relationship but believed it was “no longer an ongoing affair”.
Nationals MP Damian Drum has confirmed he and his chief of staff knew of rumours the Deputy Prime Minister had been in a relationship with his staffer, 33-year-old Vikki Campion, but neither checked if the affair was still going on when she was employed in his office.
Mr Drum told ABC radio in Melbourne today he believed the matter was irrelevant and understood it had ended.
It comes as questions emerged today over whether Ms Campion’s appointment to Mr Drum’s office, and a prior posting to Resource Minister Matt Canavan’s office, amounted to a breach of the ministerial standards.
“There were rumours around the Parliament that something was going on, but certainly at the time that Vikki came to work in my office, my understanding was that it was no longer an ongoing affair,” Mr Drum told ABC today.
Pushed further about the details of what he and staff knew about Mr Joyce’s relationship, Mr Drum said: “I suppose what you have to ask is when does a casual relationship become a regular relationship? When does that become a formal relationship? When does that become a
girlfriend?”
Mr Drum confirmed the number of staff in his office went from six to seven when Ms Campion was hired.
He also confirmed she was the highest paid media officer among his staff but struggled to explain the position when questioned beyond saying she was specialising in social media.
Mr Drum rejected speculation some Nationals MPs were questioning whether Mr Joyce should continue as leader.
“We had a meeting in the National Party room and it was just full and total support to fall in behind Barnaby,” he said.
Earlier, the Turnbull Government said the National Party was ultimately responsible for approving Ms Campion’s highly paid roles.
The Prime Minister denied any responsibility for signing off on the jobs for Ms Campion last year, beyond an “administrative role” in informing the Finance Department of the staffing changes.
But, in a sign of growing tension among the Coalition parties over the affair, Mr Turnbull told Parliament during Question Time today the staffing appointments were a question for the National Party.
Mr Morrison later referred the questions directly to Mr Joyce, saying: “These matters are addressed by the leader of the National Party.”
Mr Joyce’s face during the fiery Question Time appeared to show just how much pressure he is under as the saga continues to make headlines.
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“I’m advised that the Nationals are provided with a number of personal staff positions as a share of the Government’s overall staffing pool,” Mr Turnbull told Parliament.
“The distribution of those staff members between Nationals’ offices is a matter for the National Party.
“I’m further advised that at no time did the Nationals fill all vacant staffing positions.”
Mr Turnbull also said Mr Joyce had not discussed Ms Campion’s appointment to the two roles with him or his office.
The embattled Deputy Prime Minister faced a grilling from the Labor Party on progress in the infrastructure portfolio during Question Time.
But he sat silently on the frontbench behind the prime minister while Mr Morrison repeatedly said staff appointments were a matter for his party.
Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull confirmed Mr Joyce would be Australia’s acting prime minister next week when he travelled to the US to meet President Donald Trump.
Asked by Opposition leader Bill Shorten if he retained confidence in Mr Joyce, Mr Turnbull said: “Yes”.
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Nigel Scullion, leader of the Nationals in the Senate, said he had “no idea” who approved staff transfers within the National Party.
The Senator said there were situations where staff from other MPs office were transferred internally, such as in the case of Fiona Nash’s staff being given new roles after she lost her seat over citizenship issues last year.
“We make sure we look after staff and in circumstances like both Barnaby, and in Fiona Nash’s circumstances and for a while in Senator Canavan’s circumstances, we need to make sure that we keep those staff together, we don’t allow them to fracture and at times, like that for sure, there’s sort of a culture that we look after our staff,” Senator Scullion told Sky News today.
The senator said Mr Joyce and Ms Campion had “absolutely nothing to answer for”.
He also said the Nationals “uniformly” wanted Mr Joyce to remain leader.
PM’S OFFICE DENIES AFFAIR BREACH
Earlier, the PM’s office denied there was any breach of the ministerial code of conduct over Ms Campion’s appointments, claiming the 33-year-old was not considered Mr Joyce’s “partner” at the time.
The Prime Minister’s office has also rejected claims Mr Turnbull knew about the Deputy Prime Minister’s relationship with his former staffer Vikki Campion at the time of the appointments despite politicians last week confirming it was an open secret in Parliament for the past six months.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s 33-year-old lover and former staffer, who he is now expecting a baby with, was appointed to Resources Minister Matt Canavan and National Party Whip Damian Drum’s offices last year after she left his employ.
The Daily Telegraph has reported the roles were created for Ms Campion.
Mr Turnbull has been under fire over the appointments as they required his personal sign off as Prime Minister.
And under the ministerial code of conduct, a minister’s “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”.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull today told Fairfax Media the Deputy Prime Minister did not breach the ministerial code of conduct because “Ms Campion was not his partner at the time of the staff appointments”.
The spokesman also told the publication “the Prime Minister was not aware of the relationship” at the time of the appointments.
He said National Party staffing was a matter for the National Party.
Fairfax Media also reports Ms Campion was not yet considered Mr Joyce’s designated “spouse” for the purposes of travel and entitlements, despite expecting a child with him in April.
Natalie Joyce, the Deputy Prime Minister’s estranged wife, confirmed the relationship last week.
Ms Joyce said she understood it had been going on for many months and that it had begun while Ms Campion was working for her husband.
‘STRONG SUPPORT’ FOR JOYCE
Meanwhile, senior National Michelle Landry, who was last week promoted to the party’s chief whip, played down questions over Mr Joyce’s continued leadership.
After a partyroom meeting today, Ms Landry told Fairfax Media there was “strong support” for Mr Joyce to remain leader.
The news comes as a senior Nationals senator has publicly questioned whether Barnaby Joyce will lead the party to the next election after his affair with a former staffer was revealed.
Senator John Williams voiced his frustrations this morning over the negative headlines the Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals’ leader’s affair had attracted, while signalling the party would consider a leadership change before the next election if it continued to be damaging.
“It depends on how long this dwells on for,” he told Sky News.
“Who knows if it is going to pass over in a weeks’ time and Barnaby gets on with his job.”
Mr Joyce will face his party room for the first time today since reports of his relationship with former staffer Vikki Campion broke last Wednesday.
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Earlier today, Senator Williams was the first Nationals MP to publicly express frustration with the affair after others anonymously questioned last night whether Mr Joyce should continue to lead the party.
One MP told The Australian constituents had expressed “white-hot anger” over the affair.
A Nationals MP also told The Herald Sun: “I think if this continues, then Barnaby will know he can’t continue to lead the party.”
“Sooner or later, he’ll need to put the party, and the government, first.”
Senator Williams said this morning there was not a clear successor for the leadership if Mr Joyce stepped aside.
The senator said Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie, and Fiona Nash before her, were interim leaders as they were from the Senate, not the House of Representatives.
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He said the leadership would likely be sorted out after the next election, indicating Mr Joyce would probably remain the leader, but said: “Let’s see how it all pans out.”
Senator Williams said Mr Joyce was welcome in Armidale in his electorate of New England yesterday, when the pair left for Canberra.
Senator Williams told the ABC this morning he had not had time to gauge the reaction from voters yet but said: “There are headlines coming out that I’d prefer not to see, put it that way, being frank.”
The senator said he wished Mr Joyce’s affair had not happened and that he felt “very sorry” for Mr Joyce’s wife, Natalie, and his four daughters.
He also said Mr Joyce had “certainly been a great leader”.
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has called on the Coalition to be transparent about Ms Campion’s job trajectory after her relationship with Mr Joyce became known within government circles last year.
“The only area in which there is a genuine public interest is in the area of the expenditure of taxpayers funds,” Ms Plibersek said yesterday.
“There have been questions over the last couple of days about jobs that have been created for Vikki Campion, the expenditure of taxpayer funds on travel.
“I think those are areas where the prime minister and the deputy prime minister ought to be fully transparent.”
The government maintains nothing untoward happened, pointing to Ms Campion’s strong jobs skills.
Ms Campion, a former journalist, was initially a media adviser for Mr Joyce before going to work for Senator Canavan.
When Senator Canavan stepped down from the front bench in July following question over his citizenship, she went to work for Mr Drum.
Originally published as Nationals MP Damian Drum says he was unaware Barnaby Joyce was in ‘ongoing affair’
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