Politics

‘I’m a house husband’: Barnaby Joyce reveals dramatic lifestyle change

May 10, 2018

Barnaby Joyce has written a book. Source: Getty.

Barnaby Joyce might have strayed from his past marriage with a woman he met in the workplace, but he’s now confirmed he’s undergone a dramatic lifestyle change – and become “hands on” around the house.

The former deputy prime minister recently welcomed newborn baby Seb with his former staffer Vikki Campion, shortly after his split from wife, Natalie. Now, he’s said people would be “surprised” by how much he does round the house – and described baby Seb as an “incredible joy and an incredible blessing”.

Asked by Sky News host Sam Maiden if he’d consider himself a “hands on” dad, Joyce replied: “I am.”

“I think people are surprised. When I’m at home I do all the cooking and the washing,” he added. The host then joked he’d become a “house husband”, to which Joyce agreed.

He did manage to find a lighter side to the scandal however, as he admitted he’s being teased by friends for being a dad again at the age of 51. In fact, he said they’d joked they’d have to chop trees down at a retirement home nearby so he could watch Seb play rugby.

However, he insisted he’s adapted to home life well and is even prone to whipping up a tasty meal – his speciality is a roast dinner.

Shortly after Campion’s pregnancy was first revealed, Joyce pleaded for his new family to be granted their privacy, Now, after he was pictured with his new partner and baby at an airport recently, he’s renewed his plea for photographers to leave them alone when they’re out in public.

“You don’t want to lock yourself up forever but when you go back out into the public, you don’t expect people to go through the process of slyly taking a picture of you,” he told Sky News. “And the next time you see yourself you’re on the front of the paper.”

He added: “You don’t want to be on display like some exotic animal in the zoo.”

Joyce and Campion welcomed baby Seb in April, just three months after he stepped down from his position as deputy prime minister. While this is Campion’s first child, Joyce already has four daughters with his wife Natalie – Julia, Caroline, Odette and Bridgette. He and Natalie are yet to finalise their divorce.

The politician revealed in December that he and Natalie had separated. His relationship with his former adviser hit the headlines just a few months later, when the Daily Telegraph published a picture of a pregnant Campion and reported that Joyce was the father of her baby.

He issued a grovelling apology to both his wife and four daughters, and Campion herself, after days of stalling following the news.

“I’d like to say to [wife] Natalie how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt this has caused, to my girls how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt that it has caused them … [and] to Vikki Campion how deeply sorry I am that she has been dragged in to this,” he said at the time.

Mrs Joyce herself released a statement shortly before, saying that she understood the pair had been a couple for “many months”, including while Campion was the Nationals leader’s employee.