A Channel Seven political commentator has claimed ‘a lot’ of senior politicians are sleeping with their staffers including a friend who had an affair with a married Senator.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement on Thursday banning ministers from having sex with their staff prompted comments that Joyce’s antics aren’t uncommon among other parliament officials.
‘In Canberra, as Sam Dastyari says, it is basically a massive root-fest where you’ve got a lot of senior politicians away from their families,’ Susie O’Brien, a columnist with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper, told Samantha Armytage on Sunrise.
Susie O’Brien (left) said on Sunrise ‘it is basically a massive root-fest’ in Canberra
Ms O’Brien (pictured) referenced a friend of hers who was having an affair with a Senator, that ‘everyone knew about’
The columnist said it isn’t the inter-office relationships that causes issues, but the ‘illicit relationships’ where Ministers are cheating on their wives.
‘This sort of thing goes on and it is very, very toxic, so the problem isn’t so much the relationships, it’s the illicit relationships and I do really think people are sick of the moral hypocrisy of these politicians.’
Ms O’Brien referenced a friend of hers who was having an affair with a Senator, that ‘everyone knew about’.
Chris Smith, from radio station’s 2GB and 4BC, said it has been a ‘cloistered environment’ in Canberra for many, many years and similar behaviour has gone on ‘a lot’.
‘At the end of the day, it will go on, you can’t police this stuff and what about all the people who are listening now who have been in their families, and had kids, and they began their relationship at work, a lot of people have’.
On the morning show Chris Smith (pictured) said illicit relationships happen ‘a lot’
Ms O’Brien argued the address given by Mr Turnbull was little more than a charade to distract the country from the fact he had ‘done nothing whatsoever about Barnaby Joyce.’
She said it would have to be assumed he told Barnaby to resign and he ‘refused’ so this is the prime minister’s next best move which essentially will mean ‘Barnaby did the crime and everyone else has to do the time’.
The PM formally addressed Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce’s affair with his former media advisor Vikki Campion, 33, in a press conference in Canberra on Thursday.
He announced the ministerial code of conduct had been rewritten to forbid ministers engaging in sexual relations with their staff, regardless of whether they were married or single.
The PM spoke with media about Mr Joyce’s marriage breakdown and affair with the 33-year-old outside the Prime Minister’s Courtyard in Canberra on Thursday
‘I do not care whether they are married or single, I don’t care. They must not have sexual relations with their staff, that’s it,’ Mr Turnbull said.
‘I think we know that the real issue is the terrible hurt and humiliation that Barnaby his conduct has visited on his wife Natalie and their daughters and his new partner.’
‘Barnaby made a shocking error of judgement in having affair with a young woman in his own office. In doing so he has set off a world of woe for those women before all of us. Our hearts go out to them.’
‘It has been dreadful for them to go through with the glare of publicity. Marriage breakups are dreadful.’
‘But to do it, to experience it in the full. To experience it in the full glare of the spotlight is a dreadful business.’
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has formally addressed Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce’s affair with his former media advisor Vikki Campion
Mr Turnbull addressed the ministerial code of conduct and revealed a slight rewrite which now formally bans relationships between ministers and their staff.
‘Doing so will constitute a breach of the standards and while this new standard is very specific, ministers should be acutely aware of the context in which I am making this change and the need for them always to behave in their personal relations with others.’
Mr Turnbull also encouraged Mr Joyce to ‘consider his position’ as he moved forward with Ms Campion, who was pregnant with his child.
On Tuesday, Mr Joyce apologised to his estranged wife, Natalie, daughters, pregnant partner Vikki Campion, Coalition MPs and voters, but showed no sign he intended to step down.
The embattled Deputy Prime Minister (pictured, right) spoke out about his affair with staffer Vikki Campion (pictured, left) on Tuesday
‘I would like to say to Natalie (pictured, left) how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt this has caused,’ said Mr Joyce (pictured, right)
‘I would like to say to [my wife] Natalie how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt this has caused. To my girls, how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt it has caused them,’ Mr Joyce told reporters outside federal parliament on Tuesday.
Mr Joyce said his marriage had been under pressure for some time before the affair began.
Mr Joyce denied breaching the ministerial code of conduct, which says frontbenchers cannot employ close relatives or partners or get them work in other ministerial offices ‘without the prime minister’s express approval’.
The Nationals leader said Ms Campion was ‘without a shadow of doubt’ his current partner, slamming accusations he used his position to get her ministerial jobs.
Mr Joyce is expecting a child with his former media adviser Vikki Campion (pictured), having split with his wife of 24-years, Natalie, in December last year
‘I am very aware of the Ministerial Code of Conduct. It is without a shadow of a doubt that Vikki Campion is my partner now.’
Despite Ms Campion expecting a baby with Mr Joyce, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister denied he breached the code because she ‘could not be considered his partner at the time’.
Ms Campion worked for Mr Joyce from May 2016 until May last year. She fell pregnant to the National Party leader a couple of months later.
Following her departure from Mr Joyce’s office, Ms Campion worked for Resources Minister Matt Canavan, and then Nationals MP Damian Drum.
The Nationals leader said Ms Campion (pictured) was ‘without a shadow of doubt’ his current partner, slamming accusations he used his position to get her ministerial jobs
Prior to her job as a political staffer she spent eight years with The Daily Telegraph as a reporter and later Chief of Staff, a role she held for seven months until July 2014.
But the former journalist’s life out of the limelight came to an end after news she was in a relationship and expecting a child with Mr Joyce made headlines last week.
Ms Campion is now in hiding with less than two months until her due date as Mr Joyce faces a growing battle to hold onto his job as the Deputy Prime Minister.