Barnaby Joyce’s wife wants the embattled Deputy Prime Minister to keep his job, despite his affair with his now-pregnant former staffer.
Natalie Joyce has told friends she is worried that some in the Nationals party room are using the scandal to unseat her estranged husband and claim the leadership.
She made her first public appearance on Saturday since news of her husband’s affair broke, attending a boat birthday party of a National Party donor on Sydney Harbour, according to The Daily Telegraph.
‘It was a chance for her to relax with friends after what’s been a terribly traumatic time for her,’ a friend told paper.
Barnaby Joyce’s wife Natalie wants the embattled Deputy Prime Minister to keep his job. She is pictured during her first her public appearance, enjoying a glass of pink champagne with political lobbyist Michael Kauter
Natalie Joyce told friends she is worried that some in the Nationals party room are using the scandal to unseat her estranged husband and claim the leadership. The pair are pictured together last year
Barnaby Joyce, 50, is in a relationship with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, 33
‘Everyone was right behind her. She’s very resilient.’
Mrs Joyce was pictured on the birthday cruise enjoying a glass of pink champagne with political lobbyist Michael Kauter and his partner.
Meanwhile, the Nationals leader remained defiant on Monday, saying he would not be quitting as potential new leadership candidates began to circle.
About a third of the Nationals party room have openly supported Mr Joyce while six are locked against him and the rest have refused to comment, the paper reported.
In another twist in the saga over his relationship with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, allies of Mr Joyce accused the prime minister of leaking information to the press.
‘People are starting to see this as a witch hunt. I’m not going anywhere, I never would,’ Mr Joyce said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘People are starting to see this as a witch hunt. I’m not going anywhere,’ Barnaby Joyce said on Monday
Vikki Campion (pictured left) joined Barnaby Joyce’s staff as a media adviser before the pair’s relationship escalated
‘People know enough about me to know that I’m hardly one to run away from a fight.’
He stressed his personal feeling that a meeting between party chiefs was not crucial to his future.
Mr Joyce reminded people it was not an official meeting of the party’s top echelons and Nationals MPs were the ones to decide on who the leader of the party would be.
He has vowed to fight on despite the criticism and mounting pressure on him to quit amid the scandal engulfing the federal government.
‘I’ve been in heaps of fights in my political life, this is another one,’ he said.
‘In any person’s political career you aren’t created by the times in your favour, you’re tempered by the times of adversity. That’s how politics works – you rise to deal with it.’
Sources inside the Nationals have now turned the focus on prime minister Malcolm Turnbull – accusing him of working in partnership with journalists by leaking stories.
Sources in the Nationals claimed recent stories about Barnaby Joyce had been leaked by Malcolm Turnbull’s (pictured) office
Mr Joyce and Ms Campion were photographed together in a bar at Glebe in Sydney’s inner-west in February 2017, after flying down from Tamworth
It is claimed one of those stories appeared in Daily Telegraph alleging Mr Joyce had tried to steal a portfolio position from another minister during the reshuffle in December.
The importance of a telephone conference between leading party officials on Monday was also played down by the Nationals, the Herald reports.
The paper quoted sources from inside the party saying it was not surprising following the events of recent days and weeks that a catch-up had taken place.
It comes after it emerged his relationship with his younger former media adviser had cost taxpayers more than $28,000 for them to travel together for work.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting anything illegal took place and is not accusing Mr Joyce of misusing public funds.
However, the revelation about the 50-year-old Nationals leader’s expenses came as a Newspoll survey showed two-thirds of voters wanted Mr Joyce to resign as Deputy Prime Minister as he prepared to take a week of leave.
A Newspoll survey shows 65 per cent of voters want Mr Joyce to quit as Deputy Prime Minister
She travelled extensively across Australia with her former boss, flying with him from Brisbane to Victoria (flight receipts pictured above)
In 2016 and 2017, the father-of-four’s travel to events with his now pregnant 33-year-old former staffer Vikki Campion cost taxpayers $28,408 when she was on his payroll.
Daily Mail Australia has analysed expenses incurred by Mr Joyce between May 2016, when Ms Campion joined his election campaign as media adviser, to April 2017 when she quit as his adviser to work for Nationals minister Matt Canavan.
This publication isn’t suggesting any misuse of funds and has examined the records from the Department of Finance and Defence, which operate VIP flights for ministers.
However, Mr Joyce’s 24-year marriage to his estranged wife Natalie ended after Ms Campion had joined his office.
She travelled extensively across Australia with her former boss, flying with him from the Gold Coast to Melbourne, and several regional centres in between, during her year as a full-time staffer with the Deputy Prime Minister.
When Ms Campion first joined the Deputy PM’s office in May 2016, she travelled with her boss on VIP flights to the New South Wales towns of Tamworth, Glen Innes, Armidale, Lismore, as Mr Joyce campaigned for the upcoming July election.
Three months later, in August 2016, the pair caught a flight from Sydney to Melbourne costing taxpayers $1,135 so they could attend an Australian Dairy Industry Symposium.
In October and November 2016, Mr Joyce and Ms Campion took four VIP trips together, costing almost $12,000, taking them across central-western NSW and to Brisbane and Melbourne.
In February last year, Mr Joyce was photographed with Ms Campion, a former Daily Telegraph journalist, drinking a bar at Glebe in Sydney’s inner-west.
During that visit to the New South Wales capital, Mr Joyce claimed two nights of travel allowance worth $442, along with flights from Sydney to Tamworth each costing $356.
The Deputy Prime Minister also claimed $152 in Comcar travel.
Mr Joyce’s 24-year marriage to his estranged wife Natalie ended after Ms Campion had joined his office
The revelations came as a Newspoll survey of 1,632 voters, published in The Australian, showed 65 per cent of the electorate wanted Mr Joyce to quit as Deputy Prime Minister.
His relationship with Ms Campion has damaged the Turnbull Government’s standing, with the Coalition’s primary vote falling two points to 36 per cent, putting it one point behind Labor’s.
The government now trails the Opposition 53 per cent to 47 per cent after preferences.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr Joyce’s office for comment.