Barnaby’s private life is a private matter that’s private but it’s never stopped him before
Barnaby Joyce says his relationship with a former staffer is private. Very private. The Deputy Prime Minister on the ABC’s 7.30, Wednesday night:
Well, Leigh, what I want to do is make sure that private matters remain private ... I don’t think it profits anybody to drag private matters out into the public arena ... it’s a private matter ... I will keep private matters private ... salami slicing of a private life ... private matters should remain private and that’s part of my private life ... private matters remain private and I’m going to keep my private life private ...
His private life was not private when he sat down for a tell-all interview with this august organ. Joyce speaks to Trent Dalton about his decision to propose to his now estranged wife. The Weekend Australian Magazine, March 18 last year:
Will she be upset if she can’t go to a restaurant every night? Does she have the resilience to get through commercially tough times? ... No point starting a project you can’t see the end of.
Nor was it private with Fairfax’s Good Weekend. Joyce on his parents’ evaluation of his former partner. May 21, 2016:
To be honest. there was a time when they didn’t approve of any girl. But that’s all over now …
And he’s very keen on organising his four daughters’ private lives. Joyce speaking at an Australian Christian Lobby rally in Canberra, August 11, 2011:
We know that the best protection for those girls is that they get themselves into a secure relationship with a loving husband and I want that to happen for them.
Gay people’s private lives weren’t a private matter when he demanded a public vote on their relationships. Joyce on Insiders, July 5, 2015:
Barrie Cassidy: So they’d (Asian countries) see us embracing gay marriage as decadence?
Joyce: I think that in some instances, they would, yeah.
Young women’s private lives weren’t a private matter when he tried to stop an anti-cervical cancer drug getting on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Joyce speaking to The Australian, January 27, 2006:
There might be an overwhelming (public) backlash from people saying “Don’t you dare put something out there that gives my 12-year-old daughter a licence to be promiscuous.”
But sure, this is a private matter. Joyce on 7.30, continued:
... private issues get dragged out ... private life ... I think most people would say: “No, mate, those things should stay in the realm of your private business” ... I’m not going to once go into all the iterations of a private relationship ... this is a private matter ... a deeply private matter.
Bob Katter doesn’t think it’s a private matter. The rogue MP speaking to Sky News’s Live Now, yesterday:
Please, fellas, not staff. I mean, you’re in such an enormously influential position with staff.
Aren’t people entitled to their sexual proclivities, Bob? Katter in north Queensland, November 14 last year:
I mean, y’know, people are entitled to their sexual proclivities. Let there be a thousand blossoms bloom, as far as I’m concerned.
Oh OK, we’ll do the rest of the quote. It’s so good. Katter, continued:
But I ain’t spendin’ any time on it, because in the meantime, every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland.