||| Credit - Twitter @adamgartrell and @@1EarthMedia |||
Australia has been waiting for days to hear the outcome of the deputy Prime Minister scandal, Mr Barnaby Joyce.
The story of Mr Joyce's affair with media adviser Vikki Campion has dominated Australian politics since last Wednesday.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has now stated that he would prohibit sex between ministers and their staff in the future, though no one in the Australian press seems convinced as to how he will enforce this.
Mr Turnbull expressed his view that he condemned Barnaby Joyce for a "shocking error of judgement. The Deputy Prime Minister is on leave next week.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Getting your wife a job in a minister's office - not allowed. Getting your mistress a job in a minister's office - no worries. <a href="https://t.co/6eXzWALca3">https://t.co/6eXzWALca3</a></p>— Adam Gartrell (@adamgartrell) <a href="https://twitter.com/adamgartrell/status/962863101510000641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Though many in the opposition had pronounced their desire to see Mr Turnbull fire his deputy, he stopped short of that, claiming that the relationship with Miss Vikki Campion raised some “very serious issues about the culture of parliament.”
“Ministers must recognise that while they are entitled to privacy in personal matters, they occupy positions of great responsibility and public trust.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Barnaby Joyce was on $1,900 taxpayer funded business trip when he was photographed drinking and ‘looking comfortable’ with Vikki Campion at a Sydney bar last February <a href="https://t.co/OT8gWIwZAk">https://t.co/OT8gWIwZAk</a></p>— josh hanrahan (@jhanra11) <a href="https://twitter.com/jhanra11/status/961852346354384896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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“The public have high expectations of them in terms of their personal conduct and decorum.
“Ministers should be very conscious that their spouses and children sacrifice a great deal so they can carry on their political career and their families deserve honour and respect. Ministers should also recognise that they must lead by example, values should be lived.”
Under the code of conduct, any ministerial department job given to the partner of a frontbencher must be approved by the Prime Minister himself. However, no permission was sought for Ms Campion apparently.
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