Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce once asked nicely that journalists refrain from delving “unnecessarily into [his] private life”.
On Wednesday morning, his request was, unfortunately for Joyce, denied.
The 50-year-old, according to The Daily Telegraph, is in a relationship with former staffer, 33-year-old Vikki Campion, who is pregnant with Joyce’s fifth child. The leader of the National Party is yet to comment.
Natalie Joyce, his wife of 24 years from whom he is now estranged, spoke to journalist Caroline Overington at The Australian today and shared her “devastation” at the news.
“I am deeply saddened… that my husband has been having an affair,” she said. “For my girls who are affected by the family breakdown and for me as a wife… who has put my own career on hold to support Barnaby through his political life.”
A substantial pillar of his ‘political life’ has been his vocal opposition to same-sex marriage in Australia, particularly last year during the public debate prior to the postal vote.
Joyce has always advocated for ‘traditional marriage’ – which one might assume means a heterosexual, monogamous and lifelong union.
“I don’t believe we should be redefining marriage,” he told ABC’s Insiders in 2015. “Marriage for me is in the traditional form.”
Joyce has, historically, positioned himself as a voice of authority on what marriage is and what it is not.
LISTEN: We discuss the news of Joyce’s infidelity on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues below.