Former deputy PM defends comments in which he says biological father of Vikki Campion’s child is ‘a grey area’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Barnaby Joyce has defended his decision to publicly cast doubt on the paternity of the child his former staffer and now partner, Vikki Campion, is expecting in April, claiming they had “no choice” but to tell their story.

In an interview with Fairfax Media on Sunday the former deputy prime minister suggested the identity of the biological father was “a grey area” but said it made no difference because he intended to raise the boy as his own.

On Saturday Fairfax had quoted Joyce as denying the paternity rumours. “It’s mine, on the record, there it is,” he told journalist Mark Kenny. “And can I say, even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t care, I’d still go through this, I’d still love him.”

Michael McCormack, with steel in his voice, says he's confident of Joyce's support Read more

On Sunday Joyce said in a statement that the media had continued to pursue the issue of his relationship despite his resignation. He cited “paparazzi waiting for us at our gate at the airport on Friday” and the upcoming appearance of Daily Telegraph journalist Sharri Markson on ABC’s Q&A.

“Media had also made requests around the issue which was printed today,” he said on Sunday. “Therefore we felt we had no choice but to tell the story.”

“Despite a flood of other allegations by media and political types being used as a proxy to attack us for being together, none of those allegations has been proven true.”

Joyce – who resigned after weeks of fallout over his affair – used the Fairfax interviews to attack media reports that categorically state the baby is his, claiming that the Daily Telegraph had not asked that question before publishing its story featuring a pregnant Campion.



The authors of the Telegraph story responded by releasing an email showing Joyce’s spokesman was asked “is Mr Joyce the father of the baby and when is the baby due”.

In the Sunday interview Joyce complained the media’s treatment of Campion was an “outrageous” breach of her privacy, and also revealed the pair were physically apart for almost all of the time when conception occurred and described the question of paternity as “a bit of a grey area”.

The report stated that Joyce volunteered the comments and Campion was present for some of the interview.

On Sunday Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Sydney he didn’t have “any comment to make” about the issues, which he said were matters for Joyce and Campion.

The former Nationals leader and Turnbull maintain Joyce did not breach the ministerial code of conduct because Campion was not his partner while she was in his employ. Campion left Joyce’s office in April.



After the revelation of the affair, Turnbull changed the ministerial code of conduct to ban sexual relationships between ministers and their staff in future. The updated code does not ban extra-marital affairs or having children out of wedlock.

While the Labor opposition refrained from directly making criticisms of Joyce’s personal life, the revelation of the affair led to scrutiny of the fact he declared he was living rent-free in Armidale in a townhouse belonging to his friend and local businessman Greg Maguire.

Michaelia Cash 'unreservedly' withdraws remarks about Shorten’s female staff Read more

Media reports examined whether Joyce had breached the code in other respects such as his use of taxpayer-funded travel but Joyce maintained the “litany of allegations” had not been sustained.

The revelation of a sexual harassment complaint against him – the substance of which Joyce denies – provided the catalyst for his resignation.

In Senate estimates last week officials from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet revealed an inquiry into whether Joyce had breached the rules by the department head was dropped when Joyce resigned.

A separate Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority investigation into his use of expenses is ongoing.