AUSSIES WANT DPM TO RESIGN
Poll says Joyce’s affair has damaged government’s re-election chances
TWO-THIRDS of Australian voters want Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to resign following his extramarital affair with his former press secretary, a poll showed yesterday, adding pressure on a government already fractured by the scandal.
Joyce, a Catholic who campaigned on “family values” and who has been married for 24 years, refused to resign when it was made public he was expecting a child with his former staff member.
Some 65 per cent of voters wanted Joyce to step down as leader of the National Party, the junior partner in the government led by the Liberal Party, The Australian newspaper ’s Newspoll showed.
The Liberal-National coalition has existed since 1923, with the National leader usually taking on the deputy prime ministership.
The scandal damaged the government’s re-election chances, said Newspoll.
The government, which has only a one-seat majority, now trails the main opposition Labour Party by a margin of 53-47 per cent on a two-party basis.
The government must call an election by May next year.
With mounting public pressure, Joyce sought to turn the tide of public opinion, giving a rare interview yesterday with the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, where he blamed public life for the breakdown of his marriage.
Joyce began a highly unusual week-long leave of absence at the urging of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who would this week travel to Washington, which would have seen Joyce installed as acting prime minister. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann would now be acting leader.
As well as alienating voters, the scandal fractured the ruling conservative government, with Joyce last week publicly criticising Turnbull for “causing further harm” through comments about his affair.
The scandal prompted Turnbull to ban sexual relationships between ministers and their staff.
Turnbull and Joyce held urgent talks on Saturday. “We’ve put whatever tensions there were behind us,” Turnbull told a radio station in Melbourne yesterday.
However, Turnbull said there was no guarantee that Joyce would continue as deputy prime minister with the leadership decision in the hands of National Party lawmakers.
On Sunday, Australian media reported that senior National Party figures were openly canvassing constituents with a view to removing Joyce from the party leadership.