There are many ways to describe Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, and "principled decision-maker" is now officially on the list.

Mr Joyce has been given that title by the Froggatt awards for acting "quickly and decisively" earlier this year in expelling Pistol and Boo, the pet dogs belonging to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

The awards are given out by the Invasive Species Council to people who have made a "major contribution" to protecting the country from "dangerous new invasive species".

Boo and Pistol at Happy Dogz groomers on the Gold Coast. ( Supplied: Happy Dogz )

Depp flew his two dogs into Australia in May, while filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, on a private jet without putting them through quarantine.

When pictures of the dogs hit social media courtesy of a Gold Coast grooming salon, Mr Joyce threatened to euthanase them if they did not "bugger off" back to the United States.

Mr Joyce took the honour in his stride, tweeting: "Humbled to receive it but was just doing my job."

The organisation also recognised Mr Joyce's decision this month to introduce rules to prevent marine pests from entering the country.

The Pistol and Boo incident caused social media users to spring to the defence of the dogs, as well as this Walkley-award winning video mash-up: