When it comes to Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion, everyone is to blame but them

THEY took swipes at the PM and unnamed “scum of the earth”. But there was one glaring omission from Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion.

OPINION

BARNABY and Vikki, not so much star crossed lovers as scum-bullied innocents.

A remarkable theme of the paid Seven interview with Barnaby Joyce and partner Vikki Campion was how their personal problems were explained as the fault of someone else.

It was a protestation of innocence with a two-month-old baby frequently introduced in the hope his genuinely guilt-free state would rub off on the adults.

The $150,000 effort at blame shifting needed tiny Sebastian to be successful, but even he couldn’t save the project.

His parents could not escape the raw reality their difficulties and associated pain were of their own making, even though they crammed their version of the story with villains.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was abused by name and so-called “conservatives” in the National Party copped it without being identified.

“People within the Parliament came to me they said, ‘You’re pregnant and you have to get an abortion’,” Ms Campion said.

Mr Joyce then joined in: “They did. That’s the absolute scum of the Earth people you involve yourself with.”

So cop that all you 20 other Nationals members of Parliament. You know who you are, and what your former leader thinks of you. And now, several hundred thousand voters also think you might be scum of the Earth.

Mr Turnbull was attacked for breaking the rules of the Parliament House club. He reprimanded Mr Joyce in public when he should have been saying he was doing a terrific job.

“I don’t think that will ever be his Gettysburg Address, will it?” Mr Joyce said in one of the nastier sneers of the interview.

“I never expected a gold star, and I did not expect the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia to go and do a doorstop on it.

One of the lighter moments. Picture: Channel 7

“Generally what happens in these things is you admonish someone privately, and you support them publicly. That’s the sort of golden rule. This was back to front.”

When it comes to rule breaking, ditching the unwritten laws of the politicians’ club is more serious than the shredding marriage vows.

It was as close as Mr Joyce came to expressing more regret about being caught than for what he had done.

And on the Joyce register of scum were reporters who plagued the couple with notebooks, cameras and drones.

Their harassment caused him to say the child’s paternity was a “grey area”, we were told and probably didn’t quite believe. It’s difficult to accept doubt on such a matter could be forced from a purported father.

Mr Joyce did acknowledge blame on one matter — the collapse of his marriage. He’d failed, he kept repeating.

But seriously, it wasn’t his fault really, he counter-argued. His marriage was a victim of the job.

“It’s quite simple. It’s you live on the road. You’re living in motels. You’re always somewhere else …” he said.

And he was somewhere other than the family home because he was so damn good at his job he was in constant demand.

Poor Barnaby.