Aussie PM bans ministers from sex with staff
CANBERRA - 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 Barnaby Joyce for a "shocking error of judgemen.t.
Joyce will take a leave of absence from Monday amid scrutiny over whether he breached ministerial standards.
Both Joyce and Turnbull deny that any rules, as defined, were broken.
But the prime minister 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.
Turnbull earlier told parliament that Joyce would not fill his post as acting leader next week when the prime minister travels to the US.
The scandal has dominated Australian politics since last Wednesday when Joyce's affair with media adviser Vikki Campion was publicly revealed.
Turnbull said 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.
Turnbull said his deputy had caused "terrible hurt and humiliation" to his estranged wife, Natalie Joyce, their four daughters, and Campion.
"Barnaby made a shocking error of judgement in having an affair with a young woman working in his office," he said.
On Tuesday, Joyce publicly apologised to all six for what he called a "searing personal experience."