Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has announced he’ll be taking eleven week of extended leave and will return to work after parliament’s winter hiatus.
The announcement which was made late on Tuesday came after a tumultuous day where the politician had tried to defend his decision to take a payment from a TV broadcaster to share details of his personal life following the breakdown of his marriage.
It has been suggested that Channel Seven has paid $150,000 for Joyce and his new partner Vikki Campion to appear on their current affairs program Sunday Night.
Joyce has denied he’s being paid for the interview because the money received will be played in a trust for the couple’s six week old son, Sebastian.
Yesterday Joyce said the decision to film the interview was Campion’s, and it had been necessary because of the ongoing media interest in the couple’s relationship. Campion was a member of the politican’s staff when their relationship began.
Many of the politician’s coalition colleagues have been asked in media interview for their thoughts on his decision to accept payment for the interview, while most have said it’s a question for Joyce to answer others have been harsher in their comments. Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer said “most Australians are pretty disgusted by it”.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said he would be speaking privately to Joyce about his decision to accept the large payment.
“It has been very widely criticised, I will no doubt have the opportunity to talk about it with Barnaby privately but it is certainly not a course of action I would have encouraged him to take it, I will put it that way,” Mr Turnbull told Tasmanian radio station LAFM.
Joyce responded publicly saying he wanted to speak to the Prime Minister about introducing a tort of privacy into common law.
“If we had a proper tort of privacy we would never have had to do this,” Mr Joyce said, when asked about reaction to the Prime Minister who said this morning he would raise the paid interview with the former Nationals leader.
“If Malcolm wants to talk to me about introducing a proper tort of privacy I am only too willing about having that conversation.” Joyce told The Australian.
Opposition justice spokesperson Mark Dreyfus described the suggestion as “policy making on the run”.
“Mr Joyce shouldn’t be using his own personal circumstances as the basis for policy making. It’s the very definition of policy on the run,” Dreyfus told The Australian. “If the Attorney-General has a serious proposal in this area, Labor of course will examine it.”
Legal experts were quick to note that such a law would stop most of the work of the Australian media, making it impossible to approach people on the street, or outside courts.
Joyce will return to parliament in August.
