Barnaby Joyce may have been the butt of many jokes during the Johnny Depp dog debacle, but Australia's Agriculture Minister appears to have had the last laugh.

Mr Joyce has been awarded for his tough stance against terriers Pistol and Boo, owned by Depp and his girlfriend Amber Heard, which accompanied the pair while Depp filmed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the Gold Coast.

Barnaby Joyce is set to become Australia's deputy prime minister. Credit:Andrew Meares

Invasive Species Council chief executive Andrew Cox said Mr Joyce received the Froggatt Award for "standing up" to the Hollywood heavyweight in the light of international ridicule.

"It might have seemed like a bit of a joke at the time, but Barnaby Joyce did the right thing by enforcing Australia's strict quarantine laws after discovering Mr Depp's dogs Pistol and Boo had been brought into the country in an apparent breach of quarantine laws," he said.