By Tracey Clark
In July, we wanted to know how a secret National’s investigation cleared Barnaby Joyce of sexual harassment. Now he’s PM. What happened?
In July, the secret Nationals investigation that cleared Barnaby Joyce was under the spotlight, after the member who oversaw the initial investigation, Ross Cadell, was the subject of an apprehended domestic violence order application.
Cadell (who has since been preselected by the Nationals to take their top spot on their Senate ticket) told Guardian Australian that the application was withdrawn, that it was merely part of his separation and that we shouldn’t worry about it. He said: “I was subject to an application that was withdrawn. I am not going to relive any part of that. Separation is painful for everyone, it is over, nothing came from that, and that is all I can say.”
Pardon the editorialising, but no woman goes through the awful process of engaging the police as part of the normal process of separation. The subtext here is you don’t do something to risk violence from your partner, whether there’s a pattern or not.
Despite the anger and the headlines generated, the possibility of reinvestigating Barnaby Joyce slipped through our fingers once more. In case you missed it, Barnaby Joyce resigned as the Deputy Prime Minister due to a sexual harassment claim raised against him in 2018. Joyce was cleared and took the job back in 2021. But, here’s the kicker. For all intents and purposes, the matter should remain open, as only an internal (and secret) investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing.
In early September 2018, Barnaby Joyce told Fairfax that he was “not going to enter into any further discussions on this matter…I’ve been informed of the party’s findings and that’s it … I’m going to move on from this ASAP.”
As it stands, no external investigation has been actioned on the matter.
Catherine Marriott, 2012 WA Rural Woman of the Year and a Broome councillor, raised the complaint against Joyce in 2018, alleging that the incident took place after a function in Canberra two years earlier. In July, The Guardian spoke to a close friend of Marriott, who called the latest allegations a “travesty”, and “given the background that has come to light, I do not believe the Joyce investigation result is now credible.”
Marriott spoke with ABC’s 7:30 in 2018 after details of her complaint was leaked to the media. As Katharine Murphy of The Guardian noted at the time, “After Marriott lodged her complaint on 20 February, initially with the National party’s federal executive, it was leaked to the media a few days later.”
At the time, Joyce was in the midst of a separate scandal, involving Vikki Campion, leading some to believe that the Nationals leaked the complaint to the media.
In the interview, Marriott said: ” I walked up to my hotel room and I burst into tears. I then couldn’t sleep that whole night. I didn’t actually sleep for a week. I rang two of my closest friends and I told them what had happened, and they said they couldn’t believe (it)…they were just absolutely shocked, and they said, ‘You can’t tell anyone. You cannot tell anyone…you will be destroyed if this comes out,’ Marriott said.
“Initially, Ms Marriott chose not to report her experience to the police or the National Party, fearing the consequences of a public scandal.
“‘When it happened, he was the Ag Minister. He was a very popular Ag Minister at that time, and I didn’t…I was…I’m just a little human against a big system, and I was terrified,’ she said.”
Ultimately, the allegations were investigated internally by The National Party. After eight months, the matter was closed, with the party failing to return a verdict, citing a “lack of evidence”. The Nationals announced that the final report will not be released to the public.
In September 2018, Marriott released a statement, stating that she was “extremely disappointed that the National party reached a no-conclusion verdict… the result of this investigation has underpinned what is wrong with the process and the absolute dire need for change. This outcome simply isn’t good enough.
Her complaint was handled internally by NSW National Party executive with no professional external expert brought in at any stage to handle the matter
“While dismayed at the finding, I am not surprised as the party never had the external processes in place to deal with a complaint of sexual harassment by a member of Parliament. My complaint was handled internally by NSW National Party executive with no professional external expert brought in at any stage to handle the matter.” (The ABC, September 7, 2018)
In early September 2018, Barnaby Joyce told Fairfax that he was “not going to enter into any further discussions on this matter… I’ve been informed of the party’s findings and that’s it … I’m going to move on from this ASAP.”
As it stands, no external investigation has been actioned on the matter.
This article was originally published on The Big Smoke.
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