Former whip Damian Drum tells ABC he had heard ‘rumours’ of a relationship in July

National MP says he was told Joyce relationship was over when he hired Campion

Former Nationals whip Damian Drum says he was aware of “rumours” of a relationship between Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion when he hired her as a political staffer last July, but he had been told the affair had ended.

Drum told the ABC on Monday his then chief of staff had told him there was no longer “an ongoing affair” between Joyce, the Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, and Campion, his former staffer – and he had been more concerned “about the work that she was going to do for us” than her relationship status.

“Certainly my understanding when [Campion] came across was, a) the relationship had finished, and b) to me it was irrelevant,” Drum said, while confirming that she was the highest paid media adviser in his office during her tenure, which began last July.

Drum’s comments, which appear to confirm the relationship was the subject of open conversation within government ranks from at least the middle of 2017, came after Malcolm Turnbull told parliament he had confidence in Joyce.

But the prime minister also pointedly distanced himself from staffing decisions that saw Campion moved between political offices in 2017.

Responding to a Labor pursuit in question time on Monday, the prime minister said Joyce had not discussed Campion’s employment with him, and the treasurer, Scott Morrison, made it plain that Joyce had ultimate responsibility for staff appointments in the National party.

The hunkering down by Liberals came in response to questions being raised about whether there had been a breach of the ministerial code of conduct, which explicitly forbids ministers employing their partners, and also forbids the partners of ministers being employed in other offices without “the prime minister’s express approval”.

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Joyce’s wife of 24 years, Natalie, made it clear last week their marriage had ended because her husband had been involved in a long-term relationship with Campion, a former member of his staff, who is pregnant with his child.

Questions were then raised about whether Campion should have been employed by the resources minister, Matt Canavan, when she departed Joyce’s staff in 2017, or served on the staff of Drum, then the National party whip, given her intimate relationship with the deputy prime minister.

On Monday, before question time, Turnbull’s office said the prime minister was unaware of the relationship between Joyce and Campion. A spokesman for the prime minister said there was no breach of the ministerial code of conduct because Campion was not Joyce’s partner.

The government’s internal staffing procedures require that all new staff designated “adviser” or above face a committee known colloquially as “the star chamber”, but they are not required to clear that process a second time if they have been cleared for employment on the first occasion.

Staff hiring processes inside the Turnbull government have been relaxed after widespread complaints during the period of the Abbott government about excessive centralised control exerted by the prime minister’s office.

In answers during question time, Turnbull made it clear the Nationals were responsible for their own staffing decisions, and the treasurer, Scott Morrison, laid the decision squarely at Joyce’s feet.

Morrison later told News Corp while he was aware of “human frailty”, and was concerned about the negative impact of the controversy on Joyce’s wife and four daughters, “as for Barnaby’s private conducts, well, it’s not for me to defend him on that”.

Turnbull told parliament the Nationals were “responsible for decisions relating to staffing” and he said his own office only had “an administrative role”, informing the Department of Finance of any personnel changes.

The Nationals say no special role was created for Campion when she moved between offices – that the movements were within the designated Nationals staffing allocation.

There were also several government staff movements during 2017 as around 40 advisers affected by the dual citizenship imbroglio were moved between offices while the high court made deliberations.

Drum confirmed on Monday Campion had been responsible for the National party’s social media strategy.

Pressed on what he had done to check the status of her relationship with Joyce, Drum said: “I suppose what you have to ask is when does a casual relationship become a regular relationship? When does that become a formal relationship? When does that become a girlfriend?”

Joyce is under sustained pressure over the relationship, and has also been the subject of internal backbiting within his own party since a controversial reshuffle last year in which he moved colleagues out of ministerial positions.



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Joyce met with parliamentary colleagues at their regular meeting in Canberra on Monday morning. Ahead of the Nationals party meeting, the deputy prime minister’s New South Wales Nationals colleague John Williams said he did not know if Joyce would lead the party to the next election.

Williams told the ABC he wasn’t sure if Joyce had “done anything wrong by the law of the taxpayers”.

“Hopefully he hasn’t breached any regulations in terms of travel allowances and spending of the public purse,” he said.

But the Indigenous affairs minister and fellow Nationals MP Nigel Scullion dismissed the accelerating speculation about Joyce’s future as “the biggest beat-up I’ve ever seen”.

Scullion gave Joyce unqualified backing, telling reporters he had delivered for rural and regional Australia.

“Let me tell you, the people who keep Barnaby here and in his position are National party people and he has 100% support from all of us.”

Drum said the conversation in the party room on Monday expressed “full and total support to fall in behind Barnaby”.

“He’s been amazing for our party, he’s delivered so much for the people of regional Australia and he’s someone who, yep, he’s incredibly regretful, understands the pain that he has caused his wife and his family, he’s incredibly, you know, he’s incredibly sorry, and is very contrite,” he said.

Drum said Joyce had accepted full responsibility and was “not blaming anyone else, not blaming the media, not blaming anybody for this”.