Barnaby Joyce storms off during press conference about paternity of his son

BARNABY Joyce faced the media again today to discuss his unborn child but there was one question he didn’t want to answer.

EMBATTLED backbencher Barnaby Joyce reportedly told Nationals officials three months ago he didn’t believe he was the father of Vikki Campion’s baby.

Mr Joyce was asked during the New England by-election if Ms Campion was pregnant and whether he could be the father, according to The Australian.

However, he said he couldn’t be due to the fact that he was travelling in Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands and Italy between June 23 and July 5 - around the time of conception.

The revelation comes as Mr Joyce pleaded for people to stop talking about his personal affairs just one day after casting doubts on the paternity of his partner’s baby.

The former deputy prime minister cut short a media conference today and said he wasn’t going to take part in a discussion which was nobody else’s business but his and partner Vikki Campion’s.

The declaration of silence came too late for some of his colleagues who were deeply offended by Mr Joyce’s weekend outbursts, reported by Fairfax Media, revealing he wasn’t sure he was the father of Mr Campion’s baby.

He also accused reporters of not asking whether he was the father, despite evidence he had been.

“One thing I’m going to say is anything that’s of a personal nature is nobody else’s business but mine and Vikki’s,” he said before abruptly ending a press conference.

“It’s nobody else’s business.

“So we’re not here to be part of some ongoing litany of discussion about this. It’s no one else’s business, it’s personal, and that’s the last question I’m going to answer on it.”

Asked why he kept raising intimately personal matters himself, Mr Joyce walked away.

Full video: @Barnaby_Joyce says paternity of unborn child is "nobody else's business" #auspol pic.twitter.com/YKqfB8pst9

— Emily Burley (@emilyburley) March 5, 2018

Speaking about the saga today, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she believed Mr Joyce may have been trying to sabotage the government with the revelation.

Calling him a “bloody fool”, Senator Hanson told the Seven Network she believed Mr Joyce’s career was over.

“I can’t believe this! It is also the stress on his wife. His poor wife and kids, I cannot believe this! Bloody fool! I wish he would shut up and go away,” she said.

“He has destroyed his life as far as I am concerned. He had a great future in politics, he just destroyed it.”

Senator Hanson said it appeared like Mr Joyce was trying to bring the Liberal Party down with him.

WORDS HAUNTING BARNABY

Just two weeks ago the former Deputy Prime Minister revealed he was expecting a son with his former media adviser.

Sparked by intense media interest surrounding his pregnant partner, a furious Mr Joyce spoke about how he loves his unborn child as much as his other children and called for privacy.

However, in a stunning admission, the now backbencher yesterday admitted the unborn child’s paternity was a “grey area”.

In an interview with Fairfax Mr Joyce insisted he was never asked if he was the father of Ms Campion’s child.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and his pregnant partner Vikki Campion who is due to give birth next month. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Joyce said he believes he and Ms Campion were apart for almost all of the conception period, but won’t get a paternity test.

In a February 21 interview with Fairfax, Mr Joyce spoke of how he feared their baby son, who is due next month, will be viewed as “somehow less worthy than other children”.

“I love my daughters. I have four beautiful daughters and I love them to death. And now I will have a son. I don’t pick winners, I’m not gonna love one more than another, but I’m not going to love one less than another either,” he said.

“I don’t want our child to grow up as some sort of public display. I have to stop it from the start. It’s a fact we are having a child, it’s a fact it’s a boy, it’s not more or less loved than any of my other children.”

However by casting doubt on his unborn child’s paternity Mr Joyce has ensured that the child will remain under scrutiny.

Despite a backlash over the revelation, Mr Joyce released a statement yesterday afternoon explaining his reasons for his latest comments.

“This issue has continued to be pursued by media despite my resignation ... media had also made requests around the issue which was printed today. Therefore we felt we had no choice but to tell the story,” Mr Joyce said.

“Despite a flood of other allegations by media and political types being used as a proxy for being together, none of those allegations has been proven true.”

Ms Campion’s pregnancy was revealed by The Daily Telegraph last month with the scandal eventually resulting in his resignation from Cabinet.

But speaking to Fairfax on the weekend, Mr Joyce said he was never asked by the Telegraph if the child was his or not.

Journalist Sharri Markson, who broke the story, tweeted an email that showed the paper did ask him this before publishing the story.

Here's the email where, contrary to his quotes in Fairfax, I directly ask Barnaby Joyce, before publication, if the baby is his and ask him to confirm he had already told his wife and daughters. We published the story when we were satisfied he was treating the unborn as his own. pic.twitter.com/sKNBjCaqKP

— Sharri Markson (@SharriMarkson) March 3, 2018

BARNABY BACKLASH

Mr Joyce’s admission sparked a furious response including from his New England rival Tony Windsor who called him a grub.

If anyone had doubts about Joyce's character I think they now have a clear picture of this grub , will sacrifice others on his blundering self centred path . How many more women does he have to damage ?

— Tony Windsor (@TonyHWindsor) March 3, 2018

Many on social media also slammed it as disgusting, hypocritical and disrespectful given he has repeatedly appealed for privacy and for the media to leave Ms Campion alone.

Please @Barnaby_Joyce, stop giving interviews. Take some time out for quiet personal reflection. You are responsible for the media circus surrounding you and your loved ones. https://t.co/6iuEPDNRMi

— Catherine Yeomans (@cathyeomans) March 4, 2018

As an OB/GYN I am not so sure that grey area and paternity belong in the same phrase.. https://t.co/t9hKs3B2zi

— Dr Hilary Joyce (@drhilary_joyce) March 4, 2018

WOW @Barnaby_Joyce could you be anymore disrespectful. This is not media fodder or a ‘get out free’ quote. You’re a “grey area” to Australia & hopefully to #vikkicampion. Such a cruel comment to make. Have some respect for the woman who may be, quite possibly, carrying your baby. https://t.co/3pkNGxbw1e

— Meas Hotchkiss - Cox (@Meas74) March 3, 2018

i guess barnaby joyce telling everyone it's time to move on from talking about his private life was also a grey area

— william p tinkle (@willytinkle) March 4, 2018

This morning Sunrise host Samantha Armytage also took aim at Mr Joyce saying he should not have said anything at all.

“Forget the bonk ban, this is bonkers,” she said.

Speaking to Armytage, television and radio personality Tim Webster said he was struggling to understand Mr Joyce’s motivation for this, saying it was political suicide.

“But just think about Vikki Campion and the obvious implication is that she was having a relationship with somebody else at the time and he was on a plane somewhere at the time of conception,” Webster said.

“I don’t know why he’s saying this, I don’t know who he’s trying to help, himself? He’s certainly not helping Vikki Campion.

“I just don’t understand what his motivation is, if it’s political it’s really dumb, if it’s personal and emotional well it’s just a stab in the heart for Vikki Campion.”

The continuing saga over Mr Joyce’s private life comes as the latest Newspoll reveals Malcolm Turnbull is narrowly clinging to his preferred prime minister status following recent scandals that continue to disrupt the government.

The PM is sitting on 37 per cent, just ahead of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on 35 per cent, according to the latest poll published by The Australian.

Just a month ago Mr Turnbull was 14 points ahead of Mr Shorten.

The poll follows Mr Joyce’s resignation from the Nationals leadership over his affair.

It also comes after the febrile atmosphere in parliament descended into threats from ministers to further air rumours about others’ private lives.

- with AAP