Barnaby Joyce: interview with accuser Catherine Marriott defamatory

Barnaby Joyce slams an ABC interview with the woman who claims he sexually harassed her as defamatory and “spurious”.

Catherine Marriott has spoken for the first time about the night she was allegedly sexually harassed by Barnaby Joyce.

Barnaby Joyce has slammed an interview with a woman who claims he sexually harassed her as defamatory and “spurious”.

The woman who made the accusation, former West Australian Rural Woman of the Year Catherine Marriott, told the ABC last night she did not report the incident to police because she feared the emotional and financial toll of a court case.

An emotional Ms Marriott told the ABC’s 7.30 program that after the alleged incident two of her close friends had warned her: “You cannot tell anyone … you will be destroyed.”

Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Joyce, who has always vehemently denied the allegations, told Nine Network today: “I have an absolute clear recollection of everything from that day. I know the person very well. It is defamatory and I will leave it at that,”

Ms Marriott described the “monumental” impact of having her identity made public earlier this year but said she now hoped that speaking publicly would help political parties, governments and corporations to tackle the issue of sexual harassment.

She declined to discuss the nature of the incident outside Canberra’s Kurrajong Hotel in August 2016, saying she did not want to be seen as a victim.

“Apart from that, I don’t want every time I look on Google to have … to re-live what happened to me that night,” she told interviewer Leigh Sales.

Sales questioned Ms Marriott about the veracity of her allegations given her refusal to discuss what occurred.

But Ms Marriott insisted she would only talk about what happened directly afterwards. “I walked up to my hotel room and I burst into tears,” she said. “I then couldn’t sleep that whole night. I didn’t actually sleep for a week.”

Ms Marriott said she did not report the alleged incident, which her lawyer previously described as sexual harassment and/or misconduct, at the time because she felt she could not deal with the public fallout. “He was a very popular Ag Minister at that time and … I’m just a little human against a big system, and I was terrified,” she said.

Catherine Marriott says it was "horrific" to have her name leaked to the media after she came forward with allegations of sexual harassment by Barnaby Joyce. Mr Joyce has denied the allegations. #abc730 @leighsales #auspol pic.twitter.com/qMXV3vZv9B

— abc730 (@abc730) September 18, 2018

“It’s me versus him, which is a toxic space to be in. I would’ve had to go through a court system, which is two, three, four years long. How much would that cost me? How much is that emotional toll?”

An investigation by the National Party into Ms Marriott’s complaint ended this month after failing to reach a finding.