Politics

‘Given the choice between adulterer or backstabber, gimme the cheat’: Jones

Jun 04, 2018

Radio presenter Alan Jones speaks out about his support of Barnaby Joyce and partner Vikki Campion. Source: Getty

The loved-up interview between the controversial couple Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion on Sunday Night has generated plenty of talk across the country, but while many Aussies were put off by the couple’s $150,000 TV deal, radio presenter Alan Jones has hit out against naysayers in a show of support for the pair.

Speaking on his breakfast show on Monday, Jones hit back at unsavoury comments about the couple and said a man falling in love with a woman did not warrant a national scandal.

“Every man and his dog is delivering a moral sermon to Barnaby Joyce,” Jones told 2GB listeners. “I am one of those people who doesn’t regard this as a scandal.”

Referring to backlash against Joyce as a “return to the dark ages,” Jones was firm on his decision to support the former Nationals leader, while also taking a stab at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his handling of the issue.

“A man falling in love with a woman would be a scandal if it weren’t for the fact that it does happen every day, a marriage breaking up and one partner falling in love with another is sadly nothing new,” he said.

“Last night Barnaby Joyce was far more loyal than any of his colleagues would ever be. If I was given the choice between an adulterer and a backstabber I would choose the adulterer every time.”

Jones wasn’t the only high-profile conservative to show his support for the couple, with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott telling 2GB’s Ray Hadley he believes Joyce still has “a bit more to give our country”.

“As far as I’m concerned he’s a friend,” Abbott said on Monday. “I’m in that pick and stick club. He’s a friend and he’ll stay a friend and I think, that if he wants to, he still has quite a bit more to give our country.

“I would rather focus on Barnaby’s public life than his private life. I think that Barnaby can be proud of everything that he’s achieved in public and I think right now the best thing is to leave Barnaby and Vikki and sadly Natalie and the girls to get along with their private life.”

Joyce and Campion, who recently welcomed son Sebastian Curtis Scott Joyce, spoke openly about their relationship in the Sunday Night interview, and claimed Campion was pressured to abort her baby by some members of Canberra’s conservative cohort.

They also heavily defended their decision to accept the paid interview, saying they were doing it for their son.

“Not a cent is going to us, this is a trust account for Sebastian. Nothing’s going to me, nothing’s going to Vikki, this is for a young bloke called Sebastian Joyce,” Joyce said.