Barnaby Joyce welcomes Nats job offer for Vikki Campion

Barnaby Joyce has welcomed a job offer for his ‘well qualified’ partner Vikki Campion from fellow Nationals MP Llew O’Brien.

Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion. Picture: AAP/Channel 7.

Barnaby Joyce has welcomed a job offer for his partner Vikki Campion from fellow Nationals MP Llew O’Brien, saying she is well-qualified for the media adviser role.

“As a former senior journalist for The Daily Telegraph, I think she knows how to put a media release together,” Mr Joyce told The Australian.

“You can’t just keep someone excluded from their main job forever. There comes a time after a few years when, like most people, you just want to get back to work.”

The Courier Mail revealed Mr O’Brien, who called a spill last month in a bid to return Mr Joyce as Nationals’ Leader, had hired then former Daily Telegraph deputy chief of staff to ramp up his profile in a bid to get better outcomes for the bush.

Ms Campion, who had the couple’s second baby boy last June, will start work for Mr O’Brien – the deputy speaker – in late March.

A spokesman for Mr O’Brien said Ms Campion would work part-time during sitting weeks to assist with administration and media.

“Ms Campion is exceptionally well qualified for the role and Parliament House is a family friendly work environment, complete with a crèche.

“Ms Campion has worked for regional and national media outlets.”

Mr Joyce resigned as Nationals leader and deputy prime minister in 2018 after his relationship with Ms Campion – his former media adviser – was revealed.

Malcolm Turnbull later instituted a “bonk ban” preventing ministers having relationships with staffers.