CANBERRA, Australia: Australia's prime minister on Thursday banned government ministers from having sex with staff as his deputy battled for his political survival over revelations that he is expecting a baby with a former press secretary.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull accused Barnaby Joyce of making a “shocking error of judgment” by having an office affair which had hurt his wife, his four daughters and his new partner who is due to give birth in April.
“He has set off a world of woe for those women and appalled all of us,” Turnbull told reporters.
“Ministers, regardless of whether they are married or single, must not engage in sexual relations with their staff,” he said, stating a new rule that his Cabinet must now adhere to.
Since news of the impending birth broke last week, Turnbull has supported Joyce and declined to comment on his personal circumstances out of respect for his estranged wife of 24 years and children.
Last week, Turnbull talked down the prospect of Australia following the US House of Representatives’ lead by banning lawmakers from having sex with staff, saying legislators were entitled to private lives.
But with the opposition questioning whether Joyce had breached the government's guidelines for ministerial conduct, Turnbull announced on Thursday that Joyce will not serve as acting prime minister when Turnbull travels to the United States next week.
Motions to have Joyce fired were defeated in both the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday.
Turnbull had said as recently as Wednesday that Joyce would act as prime minister, which is the usual role of his deputy. But Turnbull said the government would be led in his absence by its Senate leader, Mathias Cormann, because Joyce was taking leave for a week.
Joyce has said his marriage breakdown and his current relationship with Vikki Campion are private matters. But questions have been raised about her employment in two government jobs after working in Joyce's office and the rent-free apartment owned by a wealthy political donor where Joyce and Campion now live.
“My personal circumstances have been up hill, down dale in this last week. I accept that and that is the price of a political life,” Joyce said in his first speech in Parliament discussing the relationship since the reports surfaced.
Joyce’s National party, the junior coalition partner, held a crisis meeting on Wednesday over whether he should continue as its leader.
Nationals President Larry Anthony, the party’s most senior bureaucrat and a former legislator, said it had resolved to give Joyce more time to ride out his controversies.
“It’s been an extraordinarily difficult time for the ... party and clearly for Barnaby Joyce and his family and for the government,” Anthony told reporters.
“It’s important people think very carefully about making any significant decisions. You are never wise to make decisions in the heat of the moment. Barnaby should be given time,” Anthony added.
Australian government ministers banned from sex with staff
Australian government ministers banned from sex with staff
Starmer arrives in China to defend ‘pragmatic’ partnership
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations
BEIJING: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations.
It is the first visit to China by a UK prime minister since 2018 and follows a string of Western leaders courting Beijing in recent weeks, pivoting from a mercurial United States.
Starmer, who is also expected to visit Shanghai on Friday, will later make a brief stop in Japan to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
For Xi, the trip is an opportunity to show Beijing can be a reliable partner at a time when President Donald Trump’s policies have rattled historic ties between Washington and its Western allies.
Starmer is battling record low popularity polls and hopes the visit can boost Britain’s beleaguered economy.
The trip has been lauded by Downing Street as a chance to boost trade and investment ties while raising thorny issues such as national security and human rights.
Starmer will meet with Xi for lunch on Thursday, followed by a meeting with Premier Li Qiang.
The British leader said on Wednesday this visit to China was “going to be a really important trip for us,” vowing to make “some real progress.”
There are “opportunities” to deepen bilateral relations, Starmer told reporters traveling with him on the plane to China.
“It doesn’t make sense to stick our head in the ground and bury in the sand when it comes to China, it’s in our interests to engage and not compromise on national security,” he added.
China, for its part, “is willing to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated Wednesday during a news briefing.
Starmer is the latest Western leader to be hosted by Beijing in recent months, following visits by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Faced with Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canada for signing a trade agreement with China, and the US president’s attempts to create a new international institution with his “Board of Peace,” Beijing has been affirming its support for the United Nations to visiting leaders.
Reset ties
UK-China relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.
They soured further since with both powers exchanging accusations of spying.
Starmer, however, was quick to deny fresh claims of Chinese spying after the Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that China had hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years.
“There’s no evidence of that. We’ve got robust schemes, security measures in place as you’d expect,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Since taking the helm in 2024, Starmer has been at pains to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy and Britain’s third-biggest trade partner.
In China, he will be accompanied by around 60 business leaders from the finance, pharmaceutical, automobile and other sectors, and cultural representatives as he tries to balance attracting vital investment and appearing firm on national security concerns.
The Labour leader also spoke to Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024.
Jimmy Lai
The prime minister is also expected to raise the case of Hong Kong media mogul and democracy supporter Jimmy Lai, 78, a British national facing years in prison after being found guilty of collusion charges in December.
When asked by reporters about his plans to discuss Lai’s case, Starmer avoided specifics, but said engaging with Beijing was to ensure that “issues where we disagree can be discussed.”
“You know my practice, which is to raise issues that need to be raised,” added Starmer, who has been accused by the Conservative opposition of being too soft in his approach to Beijing.
Reporters Without Borders urged Starmer in a letter to secure Lai’s release during his visit.
The British government has also faced fierce domestic opposition after it approved this month contentious plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London, which critics say could be used to spy on and harass dissidents.
At the end of last year, Starmer acknowledged that China posed a “national security threat” to the UK, drawing flak from Chinese officials.
The countries also disagree on key issues including China’s close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine, and accusations of human rights abuses in China.
