Ms Vikki Campion, former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s paramour, was initially employed in Joyce’s office in 2016 as a media advisor1. In April 2017, after intervention from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), she was moved to the office of Resources Minister, Matthew Canavan, because her affair with Joyce was creating tensions in his office2. Joyce initially resisted efforts to move Campion, but the PMO put its foot down. This position in Canavan’s office is reputed to have had a salary package of about $190,0001, was created for Campion and was not advertised2. In July 2017, when Canavan resigned as Resources Minister because he suspected he was a dual citizen3, Campion was moved to the office of Federal MP Damian Drum2.
In July 2017, Joyce assured the prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that his relationship with Ms Campion had ended. Given that their baby is due in April, Ms Campion may not have known she was pregnant at that time. However, in September 2017, despite not being employed in Joyce’s office (she was at the time in Drum’s office), she is seen managing Joyce’s media at a federal National Party conference in Canberra.
Now it turns out that there is apparently no record of Ms Campion in the Parliament House IT system, while she was employed in Damian Drum’s office. It is unknown whether she actually had a Parliament House security pass at that time. On top of this, Damian Drum is quoted as saying that “She did not step foot into my office once”4. It does make you wonder what is going on. Was this simply a sinecure, or was it just a way of attempting to cover up Joyce’s peccadillo?
Sources
- https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/who-is-barnaby-joyces-partner-vikki-campion/ar-BBJ6vj9
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/prime-ministers-office-intervened-in-barnaby-joyce-affair/9418692
- http://www.blotreport.com/australian-politics/what-is-italian-for-twit/
- http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/questions-asked-over-vikkis-job/news-story/bfeacc70d9278ffd2ab7931168554c5c
