Woman alleges Barnaby Joyce pinched her bottom after award

Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce is facing further scrutiny over his personal behaviour as allegations emerge of him pinching a woman on the bottom while drunk.

The claims have been made by a ‘respected’ woman, according to the Daily Telegraph – and have been strongly denied by the Deputy Prime Minister’s office.  

The woman told the publication she approached Mr Joyce following the Rural Women’s Agricultural Awards in Canberra in 2011.

The embattled Deputy Prime Minister faces fresh allegations he pinched a woman on the bum

‘I went over to t he bar and he was very, very drunk and nearly falling over,’ she said. 

‘I said ‘Barnaby, I think you should go home. 

‘You’re very drunk. He leant over and he pinched my bottom.’  

The Daily Mail has contacted Mr Joyce’s office for comment. 

Barnaby Joyce enjoying the bar in Glebe with Vikki Campion, with whom he  is expecting his baby, at the  Different Drummer bar at Glebe in 2017

The allegation comes as Mr Joyce prepares to act as Prime Minister next week during Malcolm Turnbull’s visit to the United States to meet President Donald Trump. 

A shadow has been cast over Mr Joyce’s position as Deputy PM and Nationals Leader after revelations he has been in a relationship with a former staffer.

Mr Joyce is expecting a child with his former staffer Vikki Campion, having split with his wife of 24-years, Natalie in December last year.

Mr Turnbull and Nationals have been under pressure regarding six figure salary jobs offered to Ms Campion when she left Mr Joyce’s office when their affair allegedly created tensions in the office.

Vikki Campion (left) is pregnant with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s (right) fifth child 

Ministerial code of conduct prevent close relatives and partners being appointed as staffers ‘without the Prime Minister’s express approval’.

Yet despite Ms Canavan expecting a baby with Mr Joyce at the time, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister denied he breached the standards because Ms Campion ‘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.

Mr Joyce, 50, has left Natalie, his wife of 24 years, and set up home with Ms Campion. 

 

Vikki Campion, 33,  (above) is about seven months pregnant to Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, 50

Barnaby Joyce, 50, (pictured) is having a child with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, 33

Following her departure from Mr Joyce’s office, Ms Campion worked for Resources Minister Matt Canavan, then Nationals MP Damian Drum. 

She had previously worked as a senior adviser to New South Wales Police Minister Troy Grant when the Dubbo MP was deputy premier and was an adviser to Racing Minister Paul Toole when the Bathurst MP had the local government portfolio.

Prior to becoming a political staffer Ms Campion worked for eight years as a journalist with The Daily Telegraph, where she was on the news desk for seven months until July 2014.

Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion have moved into a townhouse in Armidale, northern NSW

Months before it was reported Ms Campion was pregnant to Mr Joyce she began withdrawing from public view.

On December 7 the Nationals leader used the parliamentary debate on same sex marriage to confirm he was no longer with Natalie, the mother of his four daughters.

‘I don’t come to this debate pretending to be any saint or anything like that but I do believe in the current definition of marriage, which has stood the test of time,’ Mr Joyce said. 

Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce with his wife Natalie after he won the seat of New England in 2016

‘Half of them fail, I acknowledge that, I’m happy to acknowledge that I am currently separated so that is on the record.’

Mr Joyce moved out of his Tamworth family home in December and later moved into the Armidale townhouse he now shares with Ms Campion.

Mrs Joyce has said she felt ‘deceived’ by the news that Ms Campion is pregnant with her husband’s child and claimed the relationship began when she was a paid staffer.   

Meanwhile, Mr Joyce’s career is ‘over’ according to prominent media commentator Nikki Savva.

Barnaby Joyce has moved in with his pregnant lover Vikki Campion, a former media adviser

The Canberra insider, whose husband works for the Prime Minister, told ABC Insiders the ‘sun is setting’ on the Nationals leader’s career.

‘I think his career is over, maybe not in the short term, but certainly in the medium term,’ she told the program.

‘I would not expect to see Barnaby leading the Nationals into the next election.

‘I just think the sun is setting on his career, and I can’t see how he can survive.’ 

Barnaby Joyce’s lover Vikki Campion pictured wearing an engagement ring in May 2016

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk