Barnaby Joyce has made his son Sebastian public property

Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion with their son Sebastian. Picture: Seven News.

Eighteen years from now, somebody will be able to turn to Sebastian Joyce and say: “So, how did you make your first million?”

And he’ll be able to say: “Oh, you won’t believe it, but back when I was a baby, Mum brokered a deal to sell the story of my conception to the media.

“I’m the product of an affair.

“My dad, Barnaby Joyce — and we’re sure now he is my Dad — was a member of parliament, who had an affair with a former staffer.

“About a month after I was born, up I went, onto the auction block, with opening bids of 100K.

“And you’re not going to believe this, but bids were called after my Dad did an interview with Leigh Sales on 7.30, in which he described his affair, and the baby as a “private matter.”

They actually complained to the Press Council!

“Then it was all: do I hear $100K?

“110k?

“120?

“Sold, sold, to the Seven Network, for $150K !!”

It’s gross hypocrisy, obviously, but there are bigger issues at stake.

Barnaby Joyce is a paid member of parliament, who is about to sell the story of the affair he had with a former staffer.

How comfortable with this are we?

A politician will be taking money to talk to journalists. They’re saying that the money’s for Sebastian, but that’s a gross fiction. He can’t do the deal. He’s a baby.

So again, because this is no small matter; an MP — an actual member of parliament — is selling his story, and whatever he might have said before, he surely knows that it’s not entirely personal.

The Joyce affair led to a new Ministerial Code of Conduct, a new rule, that prevents fraternisation between ministers and their staff.

It’s a political story, and he’s going to sell it.

It’s an ugly situation, unimaginable even a generation ago. And the ramifications for Sebastian are serious: this gives the media license to continue to report on the Joyce marriage, its breakdown, the new relationship, forevermore.

Like it or not, this child’s story is now public property. It’s been put up for sale, for the public’s consumption.

You can complain about checkbook journalism if you like, because the Seven Network has signed the cheques. But only one party can cash them. And that’s the parents.