Aust PM Bans Ministers From Sex With Staff, Condemns His Deputy
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will prohibit sex between ministers and their staff, after it was revealed his deputy had an affair with a former staffer. In a press briefing, he condemned his deputy Barnaby Joyce for a “shocking error of judgement”. Mr Joyce will take a leave of absence from Monday amid scrutiny over whether he breached ministerial standards. Both Mr Joyce and Mr Turnbull deny that any rules, as defined, were broken.
But the PM said he would overhaul the “truly deficient” ministerial code of conduct. “Ministers must behave accordingly. They must not have sexual relations with their staff - that’s it,” he told reporters.
Mr Turnbull earlier told Parliament that Mr Joyce would not fill his post as acting leader next week when the PM travels to the US. The scandal has dominated Australian politics since last Wednesday when Mr Joyce’s affair with media adviser Vikki Campion was publicly revealed. Mr Turnbull said Mr Joyce would be on leave for a week from Monday. Opposition parties called on him to resign. The high-profile conservative had only returned to parliament in December after briefly losing his job over his New Zealand dual citizenship. Mr Turnbull said his deputy had caused “terrible hurt and humiliation” to his estranged wife, Natalie Joyce, their four daughters, and Ms Campion.
“Barnaby made a shocking error of judgement in having an affair with a young woman working in his office,” he said.
“In doing so he has set off a world of woe for those women, and appalled all of us. Our hearts go out to them,” Mr Turnbull said.