Turnbull to become a grandpa the same time Joyce welcomes baby

In a strange twist of events, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed that he will become a grandfather for the fourth time this April. You may recall that this is also the month that Barnaby Joyce is set to welcome his baby to his former staffer Vikki Campion into the world.

Turnbull made the announcement at a Chinese New Year celebration in Melbourne on Sunday.

“Our Singapore family, our son Alex and his wife Yvonne are not able to be here with their daughter Isla because she is having our fourth grandchild in April, so we’re very excited about that,” Turnbull told the audience, according to The Courier.

It comes after he played down claims that he and Joyce were still butting heads following a heated exchange of words to each other through the media earlier in the week.

Turnbull publicly condemned Joyce’s affair earlier this week, suggesting that his actions had not only hurt himself, but also his wife Natalie, his children, as well as Vikki. As such, he put an instant ban on such sexual relationships in politics, updating the ministerial code so that relationships between ministers and their staffers would be banished.

Joyce didn’t appreciate those comments and said that they actually made matters worse for him and his family. He branded them “unnecessary” and “inept”. He originally announced his separation from his wife in December, with many politicians calling for him to resign in the wake of the scandal. He has suggested that he won’t be stepping down, although he will be taking a week of leave from tomorrow.

Read more: Gina Rinehart’s son calls for Barnaby Joyce to stop wearing Akubra

The pair met on Saturday to try and put their differences aside and to get back to running the country. According to The Guardian, the talks were “frank”.

“It was a frank discussion between the leaders of our two Coalition parties who have been working together through our predecessor parties for 95 years, it is the most enduring political alliance in Australian political history and it will continue,” The Guardian reports the prime minister saying.

He also revealed that he didn’t say sorry for his original comments and that he stands by them. “There is nothing to apologise for,” he said. Meanwhile, Scott Morrison is said to be all for Turnbull’s sex ban, suggesting that sleeping with a staffer automatically becomes a public issue. 

What do you think of Turnbull’s baby news?

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