Susie O’Brien: Moral hypocrite Barnaby Joyce must resign immediately
IF Barnaby Joyce thought his statement today would clear the air, he was sorely mistaken. The damage has been done — he’s a moral hypocrite who is not worthy of high office, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce must immediately resign.
He’s a moral hypocrite who is not worthy of high office. He should no longer be our Deputy Prime Minister representing our nation.
He should not be the Acting Prime Minister next week. And he should resign as the Member for New England.
Joyce’s affair with staffer Vikki Campion was supposedly an “open secret” but I am sure there are many people who voted for him in the recent by election who did not know about it.
If Joyce thought his statement today would clear the air, he was sorely mistaken.
The technical details don’t matter to the average voter; we don’t care if Nationals MP Damian Drum was or was not a minister.
We don’t care if Joyce and Campion were or were not partners when they worked in the same office.
And we don’t care if he supposedly pinched someone’s bum seven years ago, an allegation Joyce denies.
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The damage has been done. Even if Joyce has not technically breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct, there is a distinct feeling he has not behaved in an honourable way.
He hasn’t been a good husband, a good father or a good politician.
These days, we expect more from our leaders. We don’t just want them to meet the bare minimum of guidelines. We want them to inspire us and lead us. We want them to set a good example.
In any case, there are many unanswered questions about Campion’s employment.
How on earth could a social media adviser earn $190,000 — a salary which seems exorbitant for such a role.
There wasn’t a position before it was created for her, and no one filled it when she left.
There remains an impression that Campion was moved around National Party offices in a manner that suited her and Joyce.
Receiving a salary that was at least twice the national average, Campion office-hopped, leaving behind a trail of professional and personal misery.
BARNABY’S LAVISH HOLIDAY FREEBIE
MP DIDN’T KNOW AFFAIR WAS ‘ONGOING’
At this time, we should be remembering Joyce’s wife Natalie and his four daughters, who deserve better. But we should also be remembering those who are collateral damage in this whole sorry affair — people like Joyce’s former chief of staff, Diana Hallam, who was a good friend of Natalie Joyce and resigned over the situation.
When similar affairs involving married men and women they worked with were uncovered within the AFL, the senior men lost their jobs.
Usually, the junior women are the ones who are moved on once the relationship becomes public.
The AFL’s decisive action highlighted the dysfunction and professional mayhem such relationships cause.
Those involved may fancy their actions are a secret, but this is rarely the case.
Sadly, such affairs are rife in Canberra; long hours, lots of travel and extended periods away from home are conducive to those who want to behave this way.
On Thursday nights, when Parliament is sitting, the bars of Manuka are full with politicians and their staffers drinking late into the night before flying home to their wives and husbands the next day.
When these relationships involve a senior person sleeping with someone who reports to them, it’s toxic for everyone. Decisions are clouded and suspicions are raised.
TURNBULL WAS ‘NOT AWARE’ OF JOYCE’S RELATIONSHIP
Australia should certainly follow the lead of the US and outlaw relationships between an elected official and a staffer where there is a direct line of reporting.
Joyce may say his relationship with Campion is personal not public, but he’s just about the only one who thinks this way.
He can’t escape the fact that while he was preaching to others about the sanctity of marriage during the same sex marriage debate, he was breaking his own marriage vows.
We deserve better from our elected officials.
Joyce has no choice but to resign. This morning he said he was sorry. But he’s done nothing to show he’s taking responsibility for his actions.
If he really was sorry, he’d resign and put an end to this sorry saga once and for all.
AFL locker room lechery reveals lack of respect
The sight of Richmond ruckman Mabior Chol being groped by his teammates was schoolboy locker room lechery. It was also pathetic, weird and we deserve better from our AFL players, writes Susie O’Brien.
Box office classics fail to capture iPhone generation
Movie night seems like the perfect way to get ourselves through stage four. But trying to introduce the iPhone generation to much-loved classics from the ‘80s has been a massive flop, writes Susie O’Brien.