Julie Bishop stops short of backing ministerial sex ban

Julie Bishop stops short of endorsing sex ban, says there are still areas of a politician’s life that “are and should remain private”.

Julie Bishop has stopped just short of endorsing Malcolm Turnbull’s ban on. ministers having sex with staff. Picture; Kym Smith.

Julie Bishop has stopped short of endorsing Malcolm Turnbull’s ban on ministers having sex with their staff, saying only that she will abide by the ministerial code of conduct when asked whether she supports the new rules.

The Foreign Minister was initially dismissive when crossbench MP Cathy McGowan called for “a conversation” about setting up a process to address personal relationships between those who work in parliament, in the wake of the revelation that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce had impregnated his former press secretary Vikki Campion.

“Government has no business interfering into people’s personal lives and we wouldn’t want to cross the line so that the moral police were able to dictate what happens between consenting adults,” Ms Bishop said at the time.

Foreign Minister @JulieBishopMP: The refresh of the ministerial code of conduct is less about the moral police and more about ensuring high-ranking figures know what is expected of them.

MORE: https://t.co/G45Q9QmWmw pic.twitter.com/QRq3t7RdRb

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 18, 2018

On Thursday Prime Minister Turnbull announced his change to the ministerial code of conduct, which was yesterday strongly endorsed by his Treasurer Scott Morrison, who declared ministers sleeping with their staff a public matter.

A Newspoll published in today’s Australian shows 64 per cent of Australians support Mr Turnbull’s move.

Ms Bishop appeared less supportive when asked about the ban this morning.

“Well in fact the ministerial code of conduct already sets very high standards for ministers, and the Prime Minister has now been more explicit in relation to those standards,” Ms Bishop told Sky News.

“It does bring the code of conduct into line with many workplaces across Australia.”

Asked whether she supported the ban, Ms Bishop said there were still areas of a politicians’ life that “are and should remain private”.

“What the Prime Minister is seeking to do is ensure that there are not relationships within ministers’ offices that can lead to an improper influence over a minister’s decisions, to conflicts of interest, to misuse of taxpayers’ funds, so he has made very explicit what was in the ministerial code of conduct, and it does bring it in line, with as I said, many workplaces across Australia,” she said.

Pressed again on whether she supported the move, Ms Bishop said: “I will abide by the ministerial code of conduct.”

Ban “incredibly messy” and “very personal”: Xenophon

Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, who in November said he “absolutely rejects any suggestion” his seven-year relationship with a staffer 25 years his junior was “manipulative or controlling”, said the ban was “incredibly messy” and “very personal”.

“I understand why the Prime Minister did it,” Senator Xenophon told ABC radio.

“I would have thought that what corporate Australia has done, requiring disclosure of relationships within offices of that nature, between say senior executives and staff, would have been something that would be a pretty measured and sensible response, but in any event it’s pretty messy and personal and painful for the people involved, but I think we could learn, politicians could learn from what corporate Australia has done, which seems to be a fairly good standard.”