Vikki Campion’s pay still on public purse

Vikki Campion has been drawing a government pay packet over the past two months.

Vikki Campion.

Barnaby Joyce’s pregnant partner and former staffer Vikki Campion has been drawing a government pay packet over the past two months, with her employment formally expected to cease later this week.

Ms Campion’s redundancy payout was approved last December following Malcolm Turnbull’s ministerial reshuffle and after she was moved between three Nationals offices in the space of six months.

The Australian understands the 32-year-old took stress leave last October, about two months after taking a senior adviser’s role in the office of then Nationals chief whip Damian Drum, which paid over $100,000. She remained on stress leave until her employment was terminated.

The former Daily Telegraph journalist’s moves between the offices of Mr Joyce, Resources Minister Matt Canavan and Mr Drum, followed the departure of Mr Joyce’s former chief of staff Diana Hallam last year.

Ms Hallam, understood to be close to Mr Joyce’s wife, Natalie, and viewed internally as a competent chief of staff, quit her job last year around the time Ms Campion moved to Senator Canavan’s office in April.

The government was forced to manage rumours of a relationship between Mr Joyce and Ms Campion throughout last year, and Ms Hallam was understood to have left due to growing dysfunction in Mr Joyce’s office.

A spokeswoman for Mr Joyce, who became the Infrastructure and Transport Minister in December after removing Darren Chester from the job, said yesterday that Ms Hallam had moved to work with the Inland Rail project.

Applications for the department job closed on April 3 last year, with a panel, including three deputy secretary-level members, making recommendations to secretary Mike Mrdak.

“As a result of that process, a number of positions were filled over ensuing months (the merit list established remains open for up to 12 months from date of ­advertising),” Mr Joyce’s spokeswoman said. “To date, six positions have been filled, one of which was filled by Diana Hallam (who was an applicant in the round), who was appointed to an SES 1 position on 21 August 2017.”

Mr Joyce, as leader of the ­Nationals, had responsibility for authorising Ms Campion to claim jobs in the offices of Senator Canavan and Mr Drum, co-ordinating social media for Nationals MPs, including himself, and working with Nationals head office.

Ministerial staffing pay scales published by the Finance Department show that senior advisers can earn up to $191,000. Ms Campion, who fell pregnant to Mr Joyce last year, was understood to have received a pay increase to shift jobs.

Mr Drum told The Australian that, after his promotion to the frontbench in December, Ms Campion chose not to continue with him.

“She decided to not seek continued employment as a way of doing the right thing for the taxpayer,” he said.

Once a staff member’s employment is terminated with an MP, it is standard practice for them to continue to draw a taxpayer-­funded salary for a further eight weeks.

Malcolm Turnbull’s office signed off on Ms Campion’s movements, but the Prime Minister yesterday pushed back, saying Mr Joyce and the Nationals took ­responsibility for Nationals staff appointments.

Mr Drum, speaking on ABC radio yesterday, hit back at criticisms of the internal appointments involving Ms Campion. He said his understanding when she joined his office was that “the relationship had finished” and the matter was “irrelevant” to him.

The Victorian MP, who was promoted to be Mr Joyce’s assistant minister, said there was “no new” job created for Ms Campion, who was effectively managing the party’s social media strategy.