Joyce gets baby bonus from TV

Cabinet ministers have refused to buy into reports that the A$150,000 (NZ$163,000) from Barnaby Joyce and his partner Vikki Campion’s tell-all interview will go to their baby.

But one has warned that the Turnbull government doesn’t want to revisit the saga which dominated headlines for weeks.

An industry insider has told News Corp the money from the sit-down TV interview will be held in trust for six-week-old Sebastian.

‘‘The baby’s parents have no say in it and cannot access it,’’ the insider said.

‘‘Lawyers ultimately get to decide if it should be accessed for the child’s education or if it will go to the child as a lump sum when he gets to 18 or possibly older.’’

Even if he does not profit from the interview, Joyce will still have to declare it on the parliamentary register of members’ interests.

Joyce, who urged the media to ‘‘move on’’ in an unpaid interview with Fairfax in February, was forced to resign to the backbench as a result of the scandal.

Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie said people wrote memoirs all the time and politicians told their stories in a variety of ways throughout their careers.

‘‘I don’t think it’s up to me to actually be making commentary on the morality of that or otherwise,’’ she told ABC TV yesterday.

‘‘What Barnaby Joyce and Vikki decide to do in their private life is their business.’’

Human Services Minister Michael Keenan also did not want to run a commentary on Joyce’s decision.

‘‘It was a distraction in the earlier part of the year, and obviously we don’t want to revisit that,’’ he told Sky News.

‘‘But this isn’t my focus, this isn’t the focus of the government.’’

His colleague Greg Hunt insisted he was being interviewed yesterday morning free of charge.

‘‘You and I are here for the love of it, and I will let the individual concerned comment on his own circumstances,’’ he told ABC TV.

Seven’s Sunday Night programme reportedly won out in a bidding war with the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes to secure the exclusive interview. – AAP

‘‘It was a distraction in the earlier part of the year, and obviously we don’t want to revisit that.’’ Michael Keenan, Human Services Minister