Niki Savva writes that Barnaby Joyce sat in leadership meetings ‘head in hands, getting redder and redder – no wonder they nicknamed him the Beetrooter’
A new book has shed light on the awkward government leadership meetings Barnaby Joyce attended after his affair with staffer Vikki Campion was sensationally exposed.
In Plots and Prayers, author and political insider Niki Savva claimed the deputy prime minister thought if the ministers stuck together, they could ‘ride it out and that people would forget about it’.
But that’s not what happened, with an embarrassed Mr Joyce eventually stepping aside after crisis talks at the highest levels of government.
Ms Savva wrote: ‘Joyce would sit in leadership meetings, head in hands, getting redder and redder – no wonder they nicknamed him the Beetrooter – while his colleagues talked about him and his mistress and what to do.
‘He would shuffle into the meetings with head bowed, growing more and more depressed.’
But then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was so concerned about the Coalition’s polling with women he decided to institute a ‘bonking ban’ – in the process making a ‘great enemy’ out of Mr Joyce, Ms Savva wrote.
Joyce’s affair with Vikki Campion, his media adviser, was sensationally exposed in early 2017
Savva reports ‘(Joyce) would shuffle into the meetings with head bowed, growing more and more depressed’ as his colleagues discussed what to do about his personal crisis
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull decided to forge ahead with a ‘bonking ban’ – a ban on ministers having sex with their staff. But in the process, there are claims he made a ‘great enemy’ out of Mr Joyce
Ms Savva wrote that Mr Turnbull’s decision to forge ahead with the ministerial sex ban policy was opposed by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, but supported by then-Treasurer Scott Morrison.
Meanwhile, the ban was reportedly mocked by the prime minister’s departmental chief Martin Parkinson, who is quoted saying: ‘I never anticipated becoming the ABC’.
By ABC, he meant ‘Anti-Bonking Commissioner’.
Mr Joyce stepped down as Nationals leader within weeks after a separate, unrelated allegation emerged about an alleged encounter with a West Australian woman. A party investigation could not substantiate the complaint, and Mr Joyce vehemently denied it.
Ms Savva, who attempted to speak to Mr Joyce (but he ‘somehow couldn’t find the right time’) goes into great detail about his affair with Ms Campion in the book released this week.
Ms Campion began as the Nationals leader’s media advsier during the 2016 federal election campaign.
The book also discloses Mr Joyce was spotted with Ms Campion at a doctor’s surgery for ‘scans’ in early 2017
The book details a blazing, door-slamming Canberra row between Natalie Joyce and her husband, after the ‘increasingly suspicious’ Natalie made probing phone calls to his staff in early 2017.
Ms Savva claims Mr Joyce was spotted with Ms Campion, a former Daily Telegraph journalist, at a doctor’s surgery for ‘scans’ in early 2017. But Mr Joyce later said Vikki was sick and he was there as a friend.
The book also claims Ms Campion, who was hired by Mr Joyce in mid-2016, spoke frankly to her colleagues about her ‘closeness’ with the deputy prime minister, telling fellow government staff about the bushwalks they went on together.
Ms Savva, a former press secretary to ex-Treasurer Peter Costello, said: ‘She made no secret of her closeness to Joyce. ‘She would describe him as the loneliest man in Parliament.’
New life: Barnaby Joyce with his new partner Vikki Campion and sons Sebastian (on right) and Thomas (cradled)
Final public appearance: Mr Joyce with his wife at the 2017 Midwinter Ball that June. Ms Savva writes that the pair had a blazing row months before this photo was taken
In February 2017, Ms Savva claimed Mrs Joyce, who ‘had access to her husband’s diary and could see the frequency of his travels with Campion’, headed to Canberra to ‘try to find out what was going on’.
‘Once in the office, she quizzed an uncomfortable (Diana) Hallam (Mr Joyce’s chief of staff) about her husband’s activities, and then threatened to confront Campion,’ Ms Savva wrote.
Mrs Joyce then confronted her husband directly, Ms Savva recalled. ‘Staff cringed as doors slammed.
Natalie Joyce has won a bodybuilding competition since her marriage to Mr Joyce broke down
‘They could not hear what was being said, but they could hear the couple yelling, and then saw the distressed expressions on their faces when it was over.’
Mr Joyce and Natalie made a final public appearance together at the Mid-Winter Ball in July 2017.
During the same sex debate that December, Mr Joyce admitted his marriage with Natalie was over and said he was ‘no saint’.
Some Coalition staffers knew at that point Ms Campion was pregnant, the book said.
Mr Joyce’s love affair with Ms Campion was exposed by the Daily Telegraph in February 2018.
The newspaper splashed a photograph of the pregnant staffer on its front page.
The damning ‘Bundle of Joyce’ headline led Barnaby’s wife Natalie to release a scathing statement saying she was ‘hurt and deceived’.
The media maelstrom that followed consumed the Coalition government for weeks.
Ms Campion has since given birth to two boys, Sebastian and Thomas.
In his autobiography released after he joined the backbench, Mr Joyce admitted spending years ‘wandering and getting closer to other women’ before finding Ms Campion.
‘When I was at home I was a lie, and when I was in Canberra I was ashamed,’ he said. Daily Mail Australia approached Mr Joyce’s office for comment.
THE BARNABY JOYCE-VIKKI CAMPION SAGA: A TIMELINE
Political insider Niki Savva was Peter Costello’s press secretary during the Howard government and is an experienced Canberra journalist
2016: Vikki Campion begins working with Barnaby Joyce during the 2016 federal election campaign
February 2017: Natalie Joyce travels to Canberra to ‘try and find out what’s going on’. They have a blazing row in his office
May 2017: Media get a tip-off that Barnaby Joyce was seen at the doctors with Vikki Campion
Mr Joyce’s statement about having to ‘make my way to Canberra’ instead of Tamworth ‘raises eyebrows’
June 2017: Mr and Mrs Joyce appear at Canberra’s annual Mid-Winter Ball together
July 2017: Ms Campion leaves Mr Joyce’s office for Nationals’ whip Damian Drum’s
December 2017: Mr Joyce admits during same-sex marriage debate that he and Natalie have separated
February 2018: The Daily Telegraph publishes its ‘Bundle of Joyce’ front page, featuring a picture of a pregnant Ms Campion
Source: Plots and Prayers