Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Barnaby Joyce have met in Sydney after their public bickering over Mr Joyce’s affair with former staffer Vikki Campion.
The pair met at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices on Saturday to clear the air after their disagreement, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Tony Abbott has criticised Prime Minister Mr Turnbull’s actions in the aftermath of Mr Joyce’s extra-marital affair – as MPs call for Mr Joyce to stand down.
Mr Abbott said politicians should talk to each other directly when dishing out advice, the ABC reported.
‘I am just not going to get into any details about personalities or specifics, but certainly as a general rule one party doesn’t give another party public advice.
‘That’s the general rule that I observed,’ he said.
The former Prime Minister also questioned Mr Turnbull’s ‘sex ban’ barring relationships between politicians and their staff, saying the existing code of conduct was sufficient.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Barnaby Joyce (right) have met in Sydney after their public bickering over Mr Joyce’s affair with former staffer Vikki Campion (left)
Mr Joyce launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Turnbull (pictured) over his public criticism of his extra-marital affair
Tony Abbott has criticised Prime Minister Mr Turnbull’s actions in the aftermath of Mr Joyce’s extra-marital affair – as MPs call for Mr Joyce to stand down
‘There was a perfectly good code of conduct in place. I thought the code of conduct as it stands it was a good code of conduct.’
Liberal MPs are calling for Mr Joyce to resign as Deputy Prime Minister.
Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonal said Joyce should resign, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
‘Clearly in his own interests he’d be better going to the backbench for a while, letting the dust settle and then come back and continue to make a great contribution to Australia,’ he said.
‘He knows better than I the damage that he’s causing. Without attributing judgment to anyone, it’s just got to end. Until we get this issue off the front pages the government’s just going to bleed.
Senator Macdonald said he and his colleagues were ‘tinged with anger’ over Mr Joyce’s conduct since his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion was revealed.
A defiant Mr Joyce accused Mr Turnbull of adding to the hurt and harm caused by the scandal with his ‘inept’ and ‘unnecessary’ comments – likening the PM’s intervention to ‘pulling a scab off’.
Wearing his signature Akubra, the Nationals leader also hit back at Mr Turnbull’s suggestion that Mr Joyce should consider his future, saying there was nothing the junior Coalition partner disliked more than being ‘told what to do about its own leadership’.
The Coalition is in open warfare after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (pictured) launched an extraordinary attack on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
The war of words points to a complete breakdown in relations between the Government’s two most senior leaders and highlights serious ructions in the Coalition – which governs with the support of both the Liberal and Nationals parties.
Mr Turnbull’s comments on Thursday night were viewed by many as an attempt to force the Nationals leader to quit, but a defiant Mr Joyce said he would not be resigning and effectively told the Prime Minister to butt out.
The Prime Minister cannot sack Mr Joyce because it is up to the Nationals MPs to choose their own party leader under the coalition agreement.
‘Comments by the Prime Minister yesterday at his press conference…in many instances, they caused further harm,’ he said.
‘I believe they were in many instances inept and most definitely in many instances unnecessary.
‘In regards to the National Party there is nothing we dislike more than implied intervention in the processes of the National Party.’
The war of words points to a complete breakdown in relations between the Government’s two most senior leaders (pictured is Ms Campion)
Wearing his signature Akubra, the Nationals leader (pictured) also hit back at Mr Turnbull’s suggestion that Mr Joyce should consider his future
Mr Turnbull also came under attack from prominent Nationals MP George Christensen over his plan to introduce a ban on ministers having sex with their staff in the wake of the scandal (pictured is Ms Campion)
Mr Turnbull responded with his own press conference in which he denied he was trying to influence the Nationals’ processes and said he had not criticised Mr Joyce’s conduct.
‘I have not sought in any way to influence the deliberations of the National Party,’ said Mr Turnbull.
‘Neither I nor my colleagues have made any criticism of the National Party, expressing views of disapproval or criticism of Barnaby’s own conduct.
‘It is not criticism of the National Party, indeed the sentiments that I expressed yesterday … are quite consistent with those expressed by many members of the National Party itself.’
Dr Stewart Jackson from the University of Sydney’s Department of Government and International Relations said the clash is a setback from the prime minister.
‘Just when Malcolm Turnbull was getting some runs on the board, with tax cuts, with Peter Dutton making progress on the border, then this happens,’ he said.
‘It’s demeaning to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, it’s damaging to Malcolm Turnbull, and it’s going to increase people’s disillusionment with politics in general.
‘If Turnbull wants to stay in government he can’t fire Joyce but he can minimise his impact, and he’s already doing that with his appointment of Mathias Cormann.’
The dramatic tit-for-tat ensures the scandal, which has dominated Parliament, will continue into a third destabilising week for the Government.
Mr Turnbull’s comments on Thursday night were viewed by many as an attempt to force the Nationals leader to quit, but a defiant Mr Joyce (pictured) said he would not be resigning and effectively told the Prime Minister to butt out
Mr Turnbull also came under attack from prominent Nationals MP George Christensen over his plan to introduce a ban on ministers having sex with their staff in the wake of the scandal.
‘The ban is bonkers,’ he wrote on Facebook.
Mr Christensen said there were far more important issues than ‘who’s shagging who in Canberra’.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten held a press conference of his own, calling on Mr Turnbull to sack his defiant deputy.
‘Quite frankly, the way these two men are behaving, neither of them are fit for the high office they currently hold,’ he said.
‘Yesterday, Malcolm Turnbull declared war on Mr Joyce. Today, Mr Joyce had has declared war on Mr Turnbull.
Mr Joyce (pictured with wife Natalie) has been under fire since last week when news broke of his affair with former media adviser Vikki Campion, 33
Opposition leader Bill Shorten held a press conference of his own, calling on Mr Turnbull to sack his defiant deputy (pictured is Mr Joyce with his estranged wife Natalie and their daughters)
‘Australians have every reason to be angry and frustrated when the two most senior Australian leaders are not focused other than anything other than their own jobs.’
‘The time has well past for Malcolm Turnbull to show he has the courage to sack his Deputy Prime Minister.
‘If Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t have the courage to sack Barnaby Joyce, he doesn’t have the courage to be Prime Minister of Australia,’ said Mr Shorten.
Mr Joyce has been under fire since last week when news broke of his affair with former media adviser Vikki Campion, 33.
The outspoken social conservative admitted in December he was separated from his wife of 24 years, Natalie, and he has since publicly apologised to her and their four daughters.
The ensuing scandal has left Mr Joyce facing questions over former political jobs for Ms Campion, who he now lives with and describes as his partner.
Mr Joyce defended staying rent-free in a townhouse owned by a friend, businessman Greg Maguire, by saying, ‘friends do not charge friends rent’.
The dramatic tit-for-tat ensures the scandal, which has dominated Parliament, will continue into a third destabilising week for the Government