Andrew Bolt: Why Barnaby Joyce’s romance is our affair
THE BARNABY Joyce love child saga isn’t about his “private” business. This is about how much of our money was spent on dealing with his affair, and how much the business of government was damaged, writes Andrew Bolt.
Andrew Bolt
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BARNABY Joyce has not only left his new lover pregnant, he has left the government facing nasty questions about what it spent to look after her.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who campaigned on “family values”, has discredited himself by leaving his wife and daughters.
QUESTION MARKS EMERGE OVER BARNABY JOYCE’S FUTURE AS DEPUTY PM
BARNABY JOYCE’S COLLEAGUES SLAM HIS BEHAVIOUR OVER LOVE CHILD SAGA
But more dangerously, he has compromised the government and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is struggling to answer legitimate questions about how much the affair with media adviser Vikki Campion disrupted the government and how much taxpayers’ money was spent on handling it.
At first, ministers reprimanded journalists for even reporting what they laughably insisted was Joyce’s “private matter”.
On Friday, Turnbull, trying to explain why he wouldn’t say whether he’d helped get Campion a new government job after she left Joyce’s office, said: “I am very conscious … of the hurt occasioned to (Joyce’s wife) Natalie and their daughters.”
BARNABY JOYCE AND VIKKI CAMPION ENJOY TROPICAL GETAWAY AS HE BEGINS HIGHWAY INSPECTION TRIP
ANDREW BOLT: BARNABY JOYCE’S AFFAIR WITH HIS FORMER STAFFER IS OUR BUSINESS
Spare me those tears. I’d guess Joyce’s wife would also like an answer to questions that are, in fact, very much the business of every taxpayer and voter:
WHY was Campion moved out of Joyce’s office last year? Was it, as the ABC reports, after Turnbull’s intervention?
WHY was Campion then hired as social and digital adviser to Nationals minister Matt Canavan — a job created for her? Was that job advertised, and were any other candidates considered for this position, paid for by taxpayers to the tune of up to $191,000?
WHY, after Canavan resigned as a minister, was Campion then hired as a media officer by another Nationals MP, Damian Drum, when he already had one? Why was Drum’s staff allocation increased from six to seven to make room for her, and did Turnbull or his office approve it?
WHY have Freedom of Information requests from journalists asking about Campion’s taxpayer-funded travel expenses been refused?
DID Joyce sack Nationals minister Darren Chester for — as was widely claimed — privately criticising his affair?
WAS Canavan’s surprisingly bad vote in the ballot for deputy Nationals leader in part a payback by Nationals MPs for having sheltered Joyce’s lover?
HOW much was Joyce’s poor performance and judgment last year affected by the affair?
This isn’t about Joyce’s “private” business.
This is about how much of our money was spent on dealing with his affair, and how much the business of government was damaged.
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Victoria’s new record of 725 infections is more evidence that the government’s hard line policies on masks and lockdowns aren’t working as planned, writes Andrew Bolt.