IT’S something you could imagine Malcom Turnbull saying to Barnaby Joyce. Or the Nationals party room. Or the voters of New England. “Boy, man, you caused some problems.” But, no. This is Barnaby Joyce, so it is his newborn son who is shouldering some of the responsibility during his and Vikki Campion's interview with Seven's Sunday Night.
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Only once during the whole interview do things really threaten to become something more substantive than soap opera: in its discussion of the hypocrisy and self-serving nature of conservative politics. Campion reveals she was pressured to terminate her pregnancy by “people inside the Parliament … people who were supposed to be conservatives”. Campion declines to name names and Joyce shuts the conversation down, citing the likelihood of legal action. The Nationals and staffers have been swift to deny the allegation. But, if true, it's a damning portrayal of certain nameless members.
But before you know it, we're back to footage of Joyce bathing his son. It's a pity, because there are a host of unanswered questions Australians would like answers to.
Like, whose apartment was Seven filming in? Are Joyce and Campion still living rent free, courtesy of New England businessman Greg Maguire, who is reported to have benefited personally from Joyce's $26 million decision to move the chemical regulator from Canberra to Armidale. Or, what about Vikki's work? Barnaby and his mates were able to get Vikki two high-paying taxpayer-funded jobs. And since the watchdog is refusing to release Campion's staff travel details, this interview would have been a great opportunity to clear that up.
Joyce and Campion wanted this interview to be the end of the questions. But it left most of the substantive issues unanswered, and raised a few more, particularly the hypocrisy of certain elements of the conservative side of politics.
