Barnaby Joyce, his partner Vikki Campion and even their new baby Sebastian Joyce look set to appear in their first interview together, after Channel Seven convinced the high-profile new family to sign a deal for an exclusive chat, according to reports.
The Weekend Australian‘s well-connected former media editor Nick Tabakoff was the first to report on Saturday that Joyce, who sensationally quit as leader of the National Party and as deputy prime minister amid the furore over his affair with Campion, had agreed to the interview, which is due to be run on Seven’s Sunday Night program.
The Weekend Australian claimed that Seven had paid $150,000 for the exclusive, outbidding Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program, and that the interview would be conducted by Sunday Night reporter Alex Cullen.
Starts at 60 was unable to independently confirm that this was the case, but has requested comments from Channel Seven and from Joyce’s office. The story appeared to have been confirmed, however, by media industry site Mumbrella.
Joyce saw his income take a dramatic downturn after moving to the backbench in February in an attempt to dampen the furore over his relationship with Campion, who had worked as his media advisor, and while he fought a sexual harassment complaint that was made public by the Western Australian branch of the Nationals. (As deputy PM, Joyce received a base salary of more than $400,000, while as a backbencher he receives about $200,000 a year.)
Joyce had revealed in December that he had separated from Natalie, his wife of 20 years and the mother of his four daughters. But by then, speculation had reportedly been swirling in Canberra for months that Joyce’s marital split was related to a lengthy affair he’d been conducing with Campion. The tryst hit the headlines in early February, however, when the Daily Telegraph published a picture of a very pregnant Campion and claimed that Joyce was the father of her child.
What followed was an unseemly series of headline, in which PM Malcolm Turnbull publicly rubbished Joyce’s judgement over the affair, and Joyce clung on to his position as leader of the National Party until public opinion made it clearly untenable. But even after he stepped down. Joyce managed to keep his new relationship and impending fifth-time fatherhood in the headlines, by claiming that he was not in fact certain that he was the father of Campion’s soon-to-be-born baby son.
As of March, Joyce, whose son Sebastian was born in April, remained married to Natalie, although he was living with Campion and had registered his former media adviser as his official partner with the parliamentary registry of interests. The Weekend Australian said that Joyce and Campion had negotiated the interview deal with Seven themselves, rather than using an agent.
Joyce’s shenanigans, which saw voters split between those who felt it was a private matter and those who were angry that he had used his political influence to win Campion a series of well-paid jobs with other MPs, saw the Nationals stalwart dubbed the ‘Beetrooter’ – all of which should make for a very entertaining interview when Channel Seven chooses to run it.