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Barnaby Joyce faces ‘push’ from own MPs

BARNABY Joyce and Malcolm Turnbull have held crisis talks after an extraordinary war of words between the PM and his deputy.

Matt Young, staff writers and wires
6 min read
February 17, 2018 - 3:43PM
What exactly is a ministerial sex ban?

EMBATTLED Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have agreed to work together after a crisis meeting in Sydney to patch up their relationship.

The pair met for over an hour, the ABC reported, following the Deputy PM’s extraordinary attack on Mr Turnbull during a press conference on Friday.

It came as The Australian reported a fresh push to oust Mr Joyce as Nationals leader.

Nationals MPs told The Australian Mr Joyce’s position was “untenable” and demanded he step down before the next party room meeting on Monday or face a leadership spill, after a public war of words between Mr Joyce and Mr Turnbull.

Mr Joyce’s colleagues said his scathing rebuke of Mr Turnbull threatened to undermine the governing coalition between the Nationals and the Liberals.

One Nationals MP said: “The right action to take is for the Deputy Prime Minister to stand down. The government will be paralysed.”

Earlier on Saturday, Liberal senator Ian Macdonald said Mr Joyce knew his actions were damaging the government, and he should spend time on the backbench. “Barnaby would have known it would derail the government’s line, the government’s focus and it really is giving Bill Shorten a free kick,” Senator Macdonald told the ABC.

“Clearly, his path is that he’s got to take a very, very low profile, I hope on the backbench for, you know, a few months.”

The developments follow a dramatic two weeks in Canberra after the revelation of Mr Joyce’s affair with former staffer Vikki Campion, who is now pregnant with his child.

In a press conference on Friday, Mr Joyce described Mr Turnbull’s comments on the affair as “inept” and “unnecessary” and accused him of attempting to interfere in the Nationals.

Mr Turnbull later used a press appearance in Launceston to address Mr Joyce’s criticisms: “I’ve seen Barnaby’s press conference and, look, I understand it is a very stressful time,” Mr Turnbull said.

“There is a need to have more respectful workplaces.

“I have not sought in any way to influence the deliberations of the National Party. Neither I nor my colleagues have made any criticism of the National Party, expressing views of disapproval or criticism of Barnaby’s own conduct.

“It is not criticism of the National Party, indeed the sentiments that I expressed yesterday, which I stand by, but I don’t need to repeat again now, those sentiments are quite consistent with those expressed by many members of the National Party itself, and that’s all I have to say.”

Mr Turnbull said he had not been in touch with Mr Joyce since the war of words began.

Earlier, Mr Joyce ended speculation that he would resign in a scathing press conference, describing Mr Turnbull as “inept and “hurtful”.

It comes as Opposition leader Bill Shorten called for Malcolm Turnbull to sack his Deputy Prime Minister “from the Cabinet”.

“The time has well past for Malcolm Turnbull to show he has the courage to sack his Deputy Prime Minister. If Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t have the courage to sack Barnaby Joyce, he doesn’t have the courage to be Prime Minister of Australia,” Mr Shorten said.

Former PM Tony Abbott has also weighed in on the stoush, taking a veiled swipe at Malcolm Turnbull Speaking in Melbourne on Saturday, Mr Abbott said the prime minister, as leader of the Liberals, should not publicly comment on the leadership of the Nationals under Barnaby Joyce.

“If a member of parliament has something to say to another member of parliament he or she should knock on the door or pick up the phone,” Mr Abbott told reporters.

“The general I always observed was that one party doesn’t give another party public advice.”

Yesterday, Mr Turnbull “threw Joyce under the bus”, announcing his deputy would not be acting prime minister when he visits the US next week, and described Mr Joyce’s affair with former staffer Ms Campion “a shocking error of judgment”.

Speaking this morning, Mr Joyce was defiant in his position as Deputy Prime Minister and as the Nationals Party leader and it now seems the situation has gone from damaging to disastrous for the government. The growing hostility between the pair has been dubbed “an uncivil war”.

“I thought that was completely unnecessary and all that is going to do is basically pull the scab off to everybody to have a look at,” Mr Joyce said.

“Comments by the Prime Minister yesterday at his press conference, with regards to that, I have to say that, in many instances, they were ... they caused further harm.

“I believe they were in many instances ... unnecessary. The reason I say that is it was public knowledge what was being repeated, it ran on the front pages of papers and all it does is reinvest in hurt of other people.”

Mr Joyce refused to stand down as the leader of the National party, saying he wouldn’t quit his job because “that’s not the decision of my colleagues ... my colleagues support me”.

“This was a personal issue that was dragged into the public arena, and I don’t believe people should resign in any job because of personal issues,” he said.

Mr Joyce apologised to his estranged wife and four daughters and said the announcement of his new relationship made things “very difficult”.

“I am incredibly sorry for the hurt I have caused Natalie, my daughters, and Vikki, since my marriage broke up last year. I say that again, I am incredibly sorry and I apologise to the people of New England and I appreciate the immense support I have received,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

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Mr Turnbull’s working relationship with deputy Barnaby Joyce is “strong”, despite his public humiliation at the hand of the prime minister. Earlier cabinet minister Matthias Cormann denied Mr Turnbull effectively told the Nationals leader to quit in the wake of his affair with a staffer, by saying he had to “consider his position”.

“That is absolutely not the case,” Senator Cormann told Sky News on Friday.

“I think they’ll have a strong and productive and positive relationship in the future.”

Mr Joyce this week stared down calls from within his own party to stand down, but his colleague Andrew Broad has warned it’s not the end of the matter.

“I’m still waiting to see the evidence there’s been an abuse of power. If I see that and it’s clear, well then I’ll be one of the people talking about what should be the action as a result of that,” he told ABC radio.

The Nationals MP, who is willing to change his support for Mr Joyce, says the party isn’t going to be pushed by the media or Mr Turnbull.

Mr Joyce’s affair with ex-staffer Vikki Campion has prompted Mr Turnbull to rewrite the ministerial code of conduct, which covers the behaviour of senior government MPs, to include a clause banning sexual relations between ministers and their staff.

Mr Broad said the ban sent a message that “somehow the parliament is some ... orgy”, something he denied.

“What I see is very dedicated people who work in parliamentarian offices and I’d hate for them to have their reputation tarnished by this innuendo,” he said. Frontbencher Christopher Pyne believes it was “incredibly disappointing” for Mr Turnbull to have to spell out the staff sex ban.

But he praised Mr Turnbull for showing leadership on ministerial conduct in the wake of the Joyce affair.

Mr Pyne said a modern workplace requirement, already present in some parts of the private sector, had now made its way to Parliament.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese argued it was “common sense” that no employer should be sleeping with their staff.

But he also described the announcement an exercise in distraction by the government, adding there are still concerns Mr Joyce breached other parts of the code regarding jobs for close partners and receiving a rent-free apartment from a friend.

“The ministerial code of conduct is now in shreds. The fact is it’s been ignored by Barnaby Joyce,” he told the Nine Network.

Crossbench senator David Leyonhjelm is concerned Mr Turnbull’s clear personal disapproval is being turned into regulation.

“To make it a rule based on disapproval, I think it’s bad practice,” he told 3AW, not expecting Mr Joyce to see out the scandal.

With Foreign Minister Julie Bishop currently overseas, Senator Cormann will be acting prime minister when Mr Turnbull travels to Washington next week.

On whether Mr Joyce can continue to work with the Prime Minister, he said, “I am intending to make sure that, like all relationships, that this relationship gets back onto an even keel.”

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— Additional reporting by Jennifer Jennings, AAP

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/barnaby-joyce-slams-prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-describes-him-as-inept/news-story/a2edd2e188afdca9005a7ad86e68324d