Former deputy prime minister says he was annoyed by PM’s announcement of sex ban

Barnaby Joyce accuses Turnbull of using his affair for 'political advancement'

Malcolm Turnbull has defended himself after Barnaby Joyce accused him of using the scandal surrounding the former deputy prime minister’s affair with a staffer for his own political gain.

“Well, I stand by everything I said,” Turnbull told reporters in Alice Springs on Wednesday.

After news broke in February about Joyce’s affair with his former media adviser Vikki Campion, the prime minister announced a ban on cabinet ministers having sex with their staff.

Turnbull says he would sack ministers who breach sex ban Read more

Joyce said he was annoyed by the prime minister’s “stupid” move.

“First of all, it’s using someone else’s personal dilemma for your own political advancement, which is a very poor form of politics,” Joyce told Macquarie Radio on Wednesday.

“Straight away, you’re burying your deputy. That’s something you do in the change room, you don’t do it on the football field.

“It didn’t help him and it certainly didn’t help me. It didn’t help anybody else either. It just didn’t look right.”



