PM TO BAN THE BONK
PM declares: No sex please, we’re skittish
FEDERAL Liberal MP Sarah Henderson yesterday declined to back embattled deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull banned MPs having sex with their staff.
The Corangamite MP did not respond to questions regarding whether Mr Joyce should stand down amid calls for him to resign over an affair with ex-staffer Vikki Campion.
A motion calling on Mr Joyce to resign as deputy PM for “clearly breaching the standards required of ministers” passed in the Senate yesterday, 35 votes to 29.
Mr Turnbull said Mr Joyce made a “shocking error of judgment”, triggering changes to ministerial rules of conduct.
“I have added to the standards the very clear and unequivocal provision that ministers, regardless of whether they are married or single, must not engage in sexual relations with a staff member,” he said.
“Doing so will constitute a breach of the standards.”
Responding to the announcement, Ms Henderson said: “It is absolutely not appropriate that ministers enter into sexual relationships with members of their staff.
“I also believe that all members of parliament should comply with this same standard.”
Ms Campion and Mr Joyce are expecting a child in April.
Concerns were also raised about Ms Campion being appointed to roles in the offices of other Nationals MPs.
Yesterday it was announced Mr Joyce would take leave to deal with the “intense public focus” on his personal life and not stand in as the nation’s leader while Mr Turnbull is in Washington next week.
Senate leader Mathias Cormann will be acting PM.
Corio Labor MP Richard Marles called the saga an “appalling drama” on Sky News.
“There are ministerial standards around the employment of staff who are family, who are partners, I think there are questions that need to be asked and answered here and the Prime Minister needs to enforce those standards,” he said.