Barnaby Joyce’s girlfriend Vikki Campion has broken her silence in a sneak preview for the couple’s upcoming interview, which reportedly netted the pair $150,000
Barnaby Joyce’s girlfriend Vikki Campion has broken her silence in a sneak preview for the couple’s upcoming interview, which reportedly netted the pair $150,000.
In a video clip posted to the 7 News Twitter account, Miss Campion says she didn’t plan on the couple’s controversial union.
‘I couldn’t help it. You can’t help who you fall in love with,’ she says.
The interview has not only divided the public, but parliament.
MPs have called for a ban on politicians selling their stories to the media and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said ‘it’s not a course of action [he] would have encouraged [Barnaby] to take.’
Mr Joyce said the money from the interview will go into a trust fund for his and Ms Campion’s son Sebastian.
New Nationals Leader Michael McCormack had a similar view point as the Prime Minister.
Just days after accepting a $150,000 cheque for a tell-all interview, Barnaby Joyce has pointed the finger of blame at partner Vikki Campion and claimed it was her idea to sell the story
‘I wouldn’t have done it, but you know that’s a decision that Barnaby has taken,’ he said.
Joyce has refused to accept sole responsibility for the revealing tell-all – which many are calling hypocritical given the politician’s previous demands for privacy – due to the fact that Vikki will be interviewed as well.
The former deputy prime minister says the decision was made after weeks of relentless media pressure that showed no signs of ‘burning out’, as the mother of his newborn realised she may as well benefit from the ordeal, News.com.au reports.
‘We tried for privacy,’ said Mr Joyce. ‘In the last fortnight we’ve had drones over our house. We’ve had paparazzi waiting for us outside Armidale airport… we’ve tried just burning this out and that didn’t work.’
The former deputy prime minister said his former staffer and the mother of his newborn Vikki Campion realised she may as well benefit from the ordeal after weeks of relentless media pressure
Joyce refused to accept sole responsibility for the revealing tell-all – which many are calling hypocritical given the politician’s previous demands for privacy – due to the fact that Vikki will be interviewed as well
The former Nationals leader claimed that if it were an interview with just him as a politician he wouldn’t charge.
‘But that is not what they wanted,’ he said. ‘They wanted an interview… to get Vikki’s side of the story and like most mothers she said, ‘Seeing as I am being screwed over… if everybody else is making money then [I am] going to make money out of it’.’
Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer said that while she didn’t go so far as to talk Joyce out of doing the interview, she could see that it didn’t sit right with the majority of Australians.
‘Ultimately it’s a matter for him and his judgment,’ she said in an interview with ABC radio. ‘[But] I don’t think it’s right, and I think most Australians are pretty disgusted by it.’
Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer said that while she didn’t go so far as to talk Joyce out of doing the interview, she could see that it didn’t sit right with the majority of Australians