If you throw mud it usually comes back to hit you in the face, Barnaby
During the 2016 election campaign the National Party ran a television advertisement of two women chatting and inferring that Tony Windsor was having, or had had, an affair. They were eventually forced to take it down but it greatly upset Tony Windsor and his family, and it was one of the reasons his wife did not want him to run in the by-election.
The National Party and Barnaby Joyce should have apologised, but they didn’t bother. What goes around comes around.
It is “alleged” that his then media adviser Ms Vikki Campion was responsible for this dreadful advertising campaign.
Tony Windsor in the past few day tweeted:
@Barnaby_Joyce Time to go , but before you do you might apologise to my wife and my now deceased Mother for your disgraceful behaviour and to the many others on your trail of misinformation and deceit . You deserve no sympathy, the sympathy should go to those you have damaged.
If it were not for his public persona people might be more inclined toward some sympathy. After all, to most of us he is just a country boofhead. But he is more than that. He is of the Trump mould. Do I really need to go there?
Having watched many of these or similar episodes during my lengthy time of politic watching I know that there is only one way the current Joyce drama will end. The curtain will come down with a dramatic ending. There will be no curtain calls. The season will be cut short. The main actor’s hypocrisy has been shown under full floodlights.
Presenting himself with Jesus-like morals to an audience willing to accept his preaching he now finds himself naked before the world. A sinner by his own actions. He wants to be forgiven, for it all to go away. The weakness of the flesh exposed.
But politics has no forgiveness. It just leaves a residue of wrong for reasoned people to soak up. The longer the play goes on the more exposed it is to bad reviews. Journalists had held back but now they see no reason to do so. The stage door is open to all.
Paddy Manning, writing in The Monthly tells us more about the ‘beleaguered’ Barnaby Joyce:
“I went over to the bar and he was very, very drunk and nearly falling over. I said ‘Barnaby, I think you should go home. You’re very drunk.’ He leant over and he pinched my bottom.”
“… another woman, a professional in her 50s who was on a since-disbanded federal government council, who met Joyce at a cocktail party at Parliament House in Canberra in 2010. According to Carabine, the woman says Joyce, then in Opposition, gave her his business card with his personal mobile number handwritten on it and, as she turned to leave, “grabbed her buttock and squeezed”. Carabine reported that the woman was so shocked that she said nothing, but when she got back to her hotel she called her husband.”
Now he is labelled a serial offender. He has allegedly been doing this for a long time! His sorry moment where he apologised to his wife and kids went down like an actor who couldn’t follow the script and decided to make it up. He failed the pub test, so to speak. There are so many incidents that don’t stack up. From water stealing, affairs, policy failures, gaffes, very wealthy mates, dubious expense claims and rent-free apartments. What next, you ask?
“No wonder Crikey’s Bernard Keane label him a serial dud who should never have been deputy PM.”
He is an angry, self-righteous, unintelligent man with no redeeming features. One who sees the past as a representation of the present and the future. An intellect of Turnbull’s sagaciousness would be glad to see him gone. The burden must be heavy at times.
Amid all the kerfuffle that associates itself with controversies such as this is the fact that Barnaby Joyce only represents 6% of the country, which is far less than the Greens but ends up with 10% of the Lower House seats. So the Greens get many more votes than the Nationals and have just one seat. A miscarriage of justice if ever you have seen one.
But the Liberal Party cannot govern without them. In the history of the nation they have never been able to garner enough votes to govern in their own right. Joyce has Turnbull by the balls and squeezes as required be it about energy, water, climate change, and whatever else takes his fancy at the time.
They have a soiled piece of paper that is like a heavy hand at the throat of the nation with wrists tied to the National’s aspirations, whatever they might be. With 5% of the vote they have an influence far beyond their portion of the vote. And we call it democracy! They even have a confidential agreement that it will remain so. Why? We live in a democracy, don’t we?
Labor has been campaigning for years to have this dirty soiled piece of crap revealed just like other countries – and the Gillard Government did – but they won’t have a bar of it. The only reason they won’t is that they must have something to hide from the Australian public.
At the time of writing I don’t know if Barnaby Joyce will retain his position as Deputy Prime Minister. (He may well be gone by the time I finish this piece).
1 That debating when he became the partner of Ms Campion is a load of crap.
2 In the weird opinion of Malcolm Turnbull:
“ … apparently a “mistress” is not a partner if the minister is still living with his wife. Ms Campion’s status evolved from girlfriend to mistress to partner and Mr Turnbull didn’t know anything about it. Really?”
3 That if he stays the Government will continue to be sucked into a moral pit of darkness of its own making. He will not speak with any authority again.
4 That if he goes they will pay a price at the polls because the residual effect of losing a Deputy PM will linger until the election in September.
5 That the whole affair is but a representation of the competence of this government and that it would be better if they all resigned.
6 That if he, next week, carries the title of Prime Minister of Australia well, I might have a citizenship problem.
My thought for the day
The purpose of propaganda is to make you feel good about the wrongs being perpetrated on you.
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62 comments
Login here Register hereSorry, couldn’t resist it – the adulterers are back in charge!
Surprised not to have seen it before…OK, probably with good reason…
Well, the first thing Turnbull needs to do – and strange that he has backed away so far – is to have his code of conduct for ministers changed so that the anomaly that forbids a minister from employing family members and partners as defined by the PM but allows a minister to employ a girl or boy friend, a sexual partner who is not the wife or husband of the minister or a toy-boy or mistress .
Joyce has been adamant that when he employed Campion and was having a sexual relationship with her and even when she became pregnant, she was not his partner so he didn’t breach the ministerial code of conduct. We have been conned.
It looks as though the collective efforts of the media managers attached to the coalition – this is why they are so well paid – have been in overdrive doing what they do : in this case painting Barnaby and his lover as people who have found love and will celebrate the arrival of their cherished baby next month, cue Womans Day and New Idea and we will be asked to share Barnaby and Vikki’s joy. We are being conned again.
Mrs Natalie Joyce and daughters, we share your humiliation !
Dear writer,
Great thought, today!
Fits perfectly with your assertion that the greens get more senators than their 10% deserve.
Perhaps your use of miscarriage of justice was a little strong in that the greens only have marginally more than their 10% with 12% of senators.
Were you unaware of the fact that to win a seat in the house requires 50% plus 1 vote. (Riverina nats 56581 greens 4400)
A feat only achieved by bandt in one victorian seat. (made easy by the retirement of a weak labor politician)
The greens are quick to use tactics to not only capitalise on labor’s misfortunes but, when possible, precipitate such opportunities.
Di’s boys must be salivating over the labor lambs to the dual citizenship slaughter and are charging towards a coalition situation.
Labor should give them all the trust they deserve.
ps of all the positions in pairs skating why did the ABC show a still of the man’s face and the woman’s arse?
.
canberra is awash with vile,corrupt, lying,immoral,deceiptful ego driven self serving individuals. The circling of the wagons protecting those within, the silence is deafening, a mere handful have raised concerns. We have indeed a federal govt and all other parties wishing this would just go away, they all fear their own misconducts may just surface. Next week, we have this grub as “acting PM”, it’s beyond words. What an example of democracy,behaviour,governence this tells our young ones, it’s disgusting.
A thoroughly nasty and corrupt little man –
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/nationals-members-foot-the-bill-for-barnaby-joyce-s-exceptional-byelection-salary-20180214-p4z0ar.html
What amazes me is the number of nationals parliamentarians prepared to lay face down in the mud so that Barnaby Joyce can stand on their backs to appear to stay clean.
We are well past loyalty into another strange realm altogether, his liabilities far outweigh his benefits as their behaviour starts to resemble an abusive, dominant/submissive relationship dynamic
Given what is very publicly known about Bananaby’s character, behaviour and demeanour, not to mention the secret or arbitrary deals done over water or the move of his Department, I wonder what hold he has over his party that sees them pretty much solidifying behind him. Some acknowledge his campaigning skills, others his success in the pork-barrelling field but all I see is a knock-kneed, red-faced blustering laggard whose ugly faces out-uglyevery other politician in party. We know, as te author says, he has Turnbull by the short and curlies but why do members of his own party risk their political futures by giving rolled gold guarantees he will survive as leader. Finally, one wonders when the scales will fall from the eyes of Vikki?
Glenn Barry, many Nationals might just think ‘Barnaby is one of us’, he’s just like them, and therefore they are willing to accept him warts and all…
Many are also scared to change anything, and believe in keeping things as they are, as they have always been: only that makes them feel safe…
Turnbull’s ludicrous definition of “partner” is just infuriating to a discerning public. I wonder if it is indicative of the number of conflicting/competing demands and expectations from within the Coalition that he tried to defend the indefensible with a statement like that? The fact that Joyce is so hypocritical has exceeded any burden of proof. His arrogance is more than apparent and just polished off with his irritating attempt to convince the public that we are all wrong in our current opinion of him. His apology was back handed, really, because it included remorse toward his wife and daughters along with a “rub it in your face” declaration that Ms Campion was now, his partner. Ms Campion deserves no apology from him. She is an adult with appropriate reason and understanding of real and potential consequences; she caused herself the responses she is experiencing now. John Lord – I am with you and would go further to say that the structure of government we now have is outdated and fundamentally flawed. For laying that bare we have this corrupt and self serving LNP government to, er, “thank”.
Turnbull seems to like his flock to be free range; he’s not reigning Dutton, Barnaby, he has scorn only for that naughty Labor bloke, Shorten…
He took great interest in the Dastyari affair, and had plenty of advice about how IT should be handled…
…oops… he is not reigning Dutton ,Barnaby, Michaelia in, not even Abbott… (accidently deleted a part of the sentence)
Wasn’t the philandering grub Barnaby Joyce the Minister for Water when all the taxpayer funded water went missing and shouldn’t the corrupt cock up of the Murray/Darling basin that is endangering the whole plan be layed squarely at his feet. Why does the MSM not mention this as another of his endearing qualities,NOT. When Abbott was PM the MSM would dismiss his cock ups as ” just Tony being Tony” and here we are again. The L/NP and the MSM are a criminal cabal that is stealing our country and destroying our democracy.
Not to be pedantic about it, but the Libs have won enough seats to govern on their own at least twice. The Nats are obviously never going to. Turnbull should have the guts to tap him on the shoulder and say enough’s enough, time to go.
Lyndsay Carruthers, guts or courage is not something I would ever expect Turnbull to display – he is as craven a man as I have ever observed
Barnaby has just contradicted his generous apartment donor and told Parliament that he did not approach Greg Maguire for a bolthole when he was kicked out of the family home. Like so many in the Coalition, BeetRooter has real problems with truthfulness. Many of us remember Barnaby was caught red-handed trying to alter Hansard to his advantage and then tried to palm that off onto a “junior staffer” rather than accept responsibility. He also denied sacking the Secretary of the Agriculture Department when he had another “relationship breakdown” following another attempted coverup. Such grubs have no conscience whatever.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/barnaby-joyce-denies-sacking-paul-grimes-or-altering-hansard-20161026-gsbnj8.html
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/10/twist-in-barnaby-joyces-hansard-saga-as-department-head-unexpectedly-takes-leave
You know you are in trouble when sycophantic supporters llke the Murdoch rag the UnAustralin turn against you. Was a brilliant cartoon in that paper I googled yesterday. It portrays Barnaby propping up the bar , probably in Tamworth and he is saying to the mob” and that’s why I reckon she was not my partner.” Rest of the mob laughing their heads off some lying on the floor in uncontrollable mirth. Never thought I would see it but it made us piss ourselves laughing too. Brilliant.
You know, the fall out from the tragic Joyce era is spilling out in all sorts of unsuspected ways.
Last night, the senate, rightly, blocked the NSW water pirates sponsored by Joyce and his ghastly pupil Berejiklian from sucking further water out of the system and returned a little water to the system.
There is no measure for the criminality of Berejiklian on many fronts.
Yes, for reasons that baffle me, a supposed civilised government in Victoria that has suffered through NSW water theft has sided with NSW to try and scuttle the Murray Darling plan, the last environmental hope for the system, backing Berejiklian, whose ministers have been caught out, as was Joyce, in sanctioning illegal water theft by cotton agribusiness on a huge scale.
It is not just the unscrupulousness of Joyce that has become epidemic, but its practice as it spread likes a contagious disease through the rest of Australian politics.
I expected no better of NSW in its current pathetic state, but Victoria, why do you side with the forces of darkness, given the parlous state of the system and the damage done to future economic viability.
Matthias Cormann is to be acting PM next week.
So they squibbed out through the back door.
Nothing makes me sick.
……………………………………………………………………………
Smack in the face for Juile Bishop. Cormann is Bishop’s factional rival in WA.
Think of the implications here.
Peter Dutton is deeply offended that he has not been made acting Prime Minister after having polished his jack-boots, practiced his goose-step and acquired a small mustache.
He will take out his frustration by kicking a few detainees on Nauru and Manus Island.
“Barnaby Joyce’s office has confirmed the deputy prime minister asked for personal leave because “he wanted to support his family and partner after such intense public focus on personal matters”.”
There is absolutely no end to the hypocrisy. So Barnaby is retiring hurt to his free bolthole.
@Biil Rees ….that’s excellent.
😀
All together now…1…2…3…Aaaawwww…
http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/barnaby-joyce-dumped-from-acting-prime-minister-position/news-story/52f13bc420440eb1372624f38a0fd207
Joyce reminds me of The Donald, they both seem to be pathological liars.
Is there any precedent for the PM or Acting PM not being a member of the lower house?
Those posting here have concurred with John Lord’s estimation of Barnaby Joyce and his inevitable fate. But it is interesting to see how different media sources come to the same conclusion but by diverse means.
The Daily Telegraph seems to be trying to take all the credit for outing, to a limited extent, Joyce’s predicament. The emphasis is on the pregnancy. and it has been suggested that other media might make great use of that; think ‘Women’s Day”, “Women’s Weekly”, etc. The excuse of the “Telegraph” for not releasing the information earlier was that they could not prove it (it needed a photograph to exhibit front page, apparently). But of course the fact of Joyce’s dalliance had been published last year in other sources.
So why did right-wing media ignore the fact last year? Something to do with by-election time?
When the Murdoch media picks up the story, Niki Savva tells us that (Barnaby Joyce’s flaws finally eclipsed his many talents”. She tells us he is: “Highly ambitious, interesting, intelligent, eccentric, cut-through; that great talent also brings with it great flaws”.
Those “many talents” seem to have escaped the notice of not only of anyone not of the right-wing persuasion, but also of Joyce himself, for he rarely displayed them.
Posters here agree with John Lord’s assessment: “He is an angry, self-righteous, unintelligent man with no redeeming features”. Not at all the same as Savva’s assessment, but then we should not be surprised. Savva also omits to mention all those other peccadilloes such as justification of water theft, certain land acquisitions, contradictory statements about marriage and sexuality, secret jobs, private handouts…
But Savva goes further: The Look Over There! moment with regard to public monies. “The tragedy of this situation is exceeded only by the sanctimony and hypocrisy expressed by the Labor Party and sections of the media”. That is, Susan Lamb not referring herself to the High Court. Commenters have pointed out how Dastyari was hounded; or go back to Slipper or Thomson. Somehow the defense of Joyce, often by omission, shows a different set of values expressed here. It is not so much the magnitude of the wrong-doing, but the extent of the cover-up for one and the enormity of the pursuits of the others.
And it does not stop there. There is also the Poor Me! moment, in which Savva was “castigated” for publishing in her book about the fall of Tony Abbott a conversation held the night before. Poor Niki. “Castigated” for revealing a privacy.
I find the find the varied commentary so revealing. What I wonder about is how Turnbull is so bound by this coalition of the disparates that he can only stand around and watch it tear itself apart, when even the Murdoch propaganda machine has decided it is all over for Barners.
Cormann was chosen to take Barnaby’s place; Dutton and Bishop can’t be too happy. What about poor old Abbott, the only one with experience…
If the Greens were a smart party,rather than targeting inner-city Labor seats,they would frame policies that are attractive to country voters,and target National Party seats. How many seats would they require to be guaranteed balance of power in almost any election.
Interesting question Peter. If Parliament were sitting next week it is hard for me to see how a Senator could be Acting PM. But no doubt these sleaze bags have done their homework to come up with a solution to suit themselves rather than to competently govern the country.
Seeing Bishop (thus Turnbull) knee capped is Abbott’s consolation. Remember, Cormann is only a temp and is in the Senate. Dutton is being kept out of the way for now.
Abbott is ineluctably unelectable so going with Dutton is the dominant right faction’s plan.
I reckon you can interpret a person’s professional behaviour throughout their working life by the professional training they had at the start of it – in Turnbull’s case as a barrister. Barristers are quick to point out that just because they defend (or prosecute) what might appear to be the most execrable among us, they don’t necessarily like or agree with them – that’s just the nature of the job (cf. Asbestos Julie). In their own words the nature of their job most closely resembles that of a taxi driver. Get in, tell me the destination and be prepared to pay the fare – however high the meter goes, I’ll get you there.
And isn’t that how he conducts himself in the role of PM? His price is merely staying in the job – whatever rank, venal, bottom-feeding, open mouthed, knuckle-dragging, oxygen-thieving tripe his party colleagues – or should that be “clients” – come up with, he will prosecute it to the utmost of his silver-tongued but ultimately vacuous ability. And that’s the issue – we keep hearing that any time now we are going to see the “real” Malcolm that we were lead to believe was always there – the moderate, republican, environmentally aware harbourside snag. Only problem is, there’s nothing there – nothing behind the façade – never was, he’s just a mouthpiece for whichever pipers are currently calling the tune.
Empty vessel.
Apart from laughing myself silly a thought then struck me; how is Trembles going to enforce this piece of idiocy? Cameras in every ministerial office and hotel room in the country? Surgically inserted trackers with built-in libido inhibitors? All desks to have to have pressure sensors that send a burst of electricity through the top of the desk when rythmic bonking is detected?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/feb/15/politics-joyce-turnbull-shorten-australia
Turnbull promotes Cormann because both Mal and Mathias know that he, the one with the excellent impersonation of a South African accent, has peaked. He will never be a candidate in a future PM challenge. Safe hands and all that.
As for Joyce, his behaviour produced a change in the Ministerial Code of Conduct that has far reaching effects. As for the definition of sexual relations, that will be interesting. What practices are included and what practices are excluded. Where does kissing fit along a presumed continuum? Acceptable or not? Type of kiss? Location of kiss? – I won’t go on. But remember Bill Clinton – I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Perhaps he will elaborate in the next Press Conference? Clearly an unenforceable ruling. Unless of course there’s some real f@ck ups in the Barnaby tradition.
Fellow bloggers, the “captain has spoken, in the news, quote:
Malcolm Turnbull has reflected on the morality and judgement of the deputy prime minister;
He has told his deputy to go and reflect on his future;
He has banned sexual relationships between ministers and their staff (from today); End of quote
Is this a comedy, a night mare? It is for real?
I heard it from his own lips. In a complete turnaround, he just threw Barnaby under a bus
Free tax payer funded chastity (snort) belts for all ministers with Truffles holding all the keys.
Kaye Lee, we must never forget that all this in aid of is purely and simply Truffles keeping Trembles as leader and PM.
What about ministers having sexual relationships with other ministers’ staffers? After all Campion is not Joyce’s staffer, but Drum’s.
Spot on Knonomex, that was my first thought on hearing the news…
What about Ministers having sexual relationships with other Ministers? Other Ministers’ wives or husbands?
Is masturbation permitted? Imagine Question Time without Ministerial wanking. Perhaps an enhanced role for the Speaker in deciding who is …
Then there’s Ministerial porn and …
All we need this coming week is a situation to develop where Parliament needs to be recalled. If so, but whom, and under what authority?
I see that this power lies with the GG.
MN,
The ban is only on staff in a minister’s own office. If a staffer is in another office, or moved to another office, the affair can continue, according to Samantha Maiden.
It is about rorting and corruption not sex. Turnbull’s sense of humour is wearing thin.
Peter, I can’t see the GG doing anything that isn’t in the interests of his mates in the LNP.
Matters Not, I’m sure that masturbation is permitted. I’m even suspecting that Mal will give us a demonstration.
Joyce has already offered the demonstration.
Freethinker, it can only be comedy. This stuff can’t be made up.
Perhaps he’s hoping for a ‘bounce’ in the polls. 😁
Would be interesting to know Donald Trump opinion about the new standards.
I bet that he will say that are fake news and that Barnaby is a good man
Paul, I think that’s about the only satisfaction he’s going to be getting for quite a while.
Freethinker, perhaps Malcolm can ask him when they catch up later this month. What else – other than sex – could Malcolm possibly talk about that Donald might find the least bit interesting?
I can picture it now:
Malcolm: “Mr President, let’s talk about sex.”
Donald: “You want woman? I get you woman.”
If he made the bonking ban retrospective there wouldn’t be enough in either house to form a circle.
More stuff ups, stumbles, idiocy, etc, tomorrow..weellll, it is the LNP after all. Good night all, I’m off to watch an episode or two The New Statesman with Rik Mayall as Alan B’Stard, the epitome of the Tories and our very own LNP.
Talking about politicians and code of conduct I remember well Richo and the love boat scandal. For sure there some more.
Oh yes, was the one between politicians, Evans and the lady from the Democrats
Re:
While I watched Turnbull make his statement, it wasn’t definitive (not surprising). But to rely on the woman described by Dutton as:
is perhaps not the best source.
As an aside, I remember a Lecturer returning to a staff room and announcing in high dudgeon:
Came a voice from the back. Where did she get the f*cking fantasy from? Much laughter because wanking, in all its forms, was his speciality.
I agree, Kronomex, but it would be good to see it happen.
Isn’t Abbott lucky he’s no longer a minister?
Someone was heard saying we need a Bonking Royal Commission.
(Source unknown).
We can finishing the day with this quote from Donald Trump:
“One of they key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.”
Unbelievable!!!!
Turnbull’s rage has come forth hitting us like a limp lettuce leaf
Turnbull was road kill from the start and nobody knew where to look
Not fit to lead: Turnbull has punished Joyce the best way he can
It’s all about Turntail……. 😉
Bananababy isn’t going anywhere – well, not for a while.
Despite being one of the most incompetent and corrupt politicians ever to grace the federal stage, he has somehow managed to wedge himself into a position where levering him out will be like removing a barnacle from a rock (Barnaby – barnacle, is there too much of a coincidence there?). He has way too much to lose, and a severely over-developed sense of entitlement to willingly surrender the incredibly good wicket he is on.
Think about it, he’s a country accountant of very average intelligence, a poor ethical model and on overdeveloped sense of self-belief, who managed to jag an incredible job with power, influence and a salary package well in excess of half a million dollars a year – he’s not giving that up willingly, because he knows the chances of him pulling any other job after politics are fast diminishing.
He firmly believes he can just tough it out until the media/public get fed-up or tired of it and move onto some other issue.
The Libs know the whole debacle is political poison, but they can ill afford to lose another seat on the house forcing yet another by-election so soon after the last one. So they will continue to agitate for him to remain behind the scenes. Their strategists are no doubt recommending it is better to take some damage and retain power than have the government collapse and lose all power.
This whole debacle will likely stalemate for days if not weeks before he is finally forced to resign, and with so many people smelling blood in the water, the mass research underway at the moment is likely to yield even more damaging revelations for Barn and the government.
Anomander, great synopsis, the longer he remains, the more catastrophic the damage – that Albatross shall drag them all asunder.
They’ve no time for good judgement, it is not a priority – they’re all just struggling with the task of being in charge
Here we go..more on the background to all of this:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/15/barnaby-joyce-and-the-difficulties-avoiding-a-conflict-of-interest
Now that Turnbull has bought in Prohibition will Dutton be the Eliot Ness who upholds the law ?
Or will it be Abbott or Kevin Andrews ?
Perhaps Christensen, he’s unlikely to have had any affairs, let alone any relationships.
Will this Prohibition have the same powers as the ABCC.
As usual Turnbull has managed to f#ck up sacking Barney from his Ministerial job.
Good Article John Lord.
Unfortunately those who leave the Nuts will sink further into the cesspool of damaged DNA by voting for Hanson.