Australian PM to ban affairs between ministers and staff

[webfact]

Australian PM to ban affairs between ministers and staff after deputy's 'shocking' affair

By Tom Westbrook

 

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia December 5, 2017. AAP/Mick Tsikas/via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday banned sex between ministers and staff and rounded on his deputy for a "shocking error of judgment" by having an affair with a press secretary.

 

Deputy Australian Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, a Catholic who campaigned on "family values" and married for 24 years, is expecting a child with his former staffer in April.

 

Turnbull denounced the affair at a press conference in Canberra after a week in which the scandal threw his centre-right government into turmoil and strained the alliance between his Liberal Party and Joyce's National Party.

 

He stopped short of sacking Joyce, which would have put the government's narrow one-seat majority at risk were he expelled from parliament.

 

But Turnbull said the scandal had prompted overdue changes to ministerial conduct rules, and announced new standards broadly similar to a ban on relationships between lawmakers and staffers adopted last week by U.S Congress.

 

"In 2018, it is not acceptable for a minister to have a sexual relationship with somebody who works for them. It is a very bad workplace practice. And everybody knows that no good comes of it," he said.

 

"Ministers, regardless of whether they are married or single, must not engage in sexual relations with staff. Doing so will constitute a breach of the standards."

 

He said the changes take effect "as of today" and that Joyce will "have to consider his own position" as leader of the National Party.

 

Turnbull said earlier Joyce would take a week's break next week, which avoids the need for him to fill in as acting prime minister during Turnbull's scheduled visit to meet U.S President Donald Trump in Washington next week.

 

The week off comes after an opinion poll showed support for Joyce, a plain-spoken small-town accountant turned politician, had tumbled in his rural electorate.

 

The percentage of voters backing him crashed to 43 percent, according to the ReachTEL poll published in Fairfax newspapers on Thursday, down from the 63 percent margin he won at a by-election in December.

 

He also faces intensifying pressure over his failure to declare the relationship with his former press secretary, Vikki Campion, when she was hired for two highly-paid government positions outside his office.

 

And there are questions about Joyce's acceptance, rent-free, of a townhouse belonging to a wealthy friend, Greg Maguire, and whether Joyce broke ministerial rules forbidding asking for gifts. Joyce denied asking for the townhouse.

 

"Most people would realise that at the time of a marriage break-up, it is not unusual for those who you are close to, to offer support," he told parliament.

 

"Mr Maguire approached me...he said: 'You're living out of a suitcase, and this is basically something that I should try and help you with.' I took him up on the offer but I offered to pay for it."

 

He has also said he did not break any rules over Campion's employment because she was not his "partner" at the time.

 

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook and Jane Wardell; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-15

[thaibeachlovers]

Silly me. I was under the mistaken impression it was always illegal for a person in government with power to be banging the hired help.

It's been illegal for a medic, nurse, teacher, etc to bang those in their care for as long as I can remember. Why on earth would ministers be allowed to?

[keith101]

Banning affairs wont change anything just make it more discreet and its between consenting adults at least it should be , its a way to get themselves elevated to higher positions .

[mfd101]

40 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Silly me. I was under the mistaken impression it was always illegal for a person in government with power to be banging the hired help.

It's been illegal for a medic, nurse, teacher, etc to bang those in their care for as long as I can remember. Why on earth would ministers be allowed to?

Disapproving of something (eg casual sex between consenting adults, belching loudly in public, picking your nose ... ) is one thing. Banning it is another.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

Disapproving of something (eg casual sex between consenting adults, belching loudly in public, picking your nose ... ) is one thing. Banning it is another.

No problem banning it between teachers and students, medics and patients, military officers and ranks. Why would it be a problem banning it between superiors and the hired help in government? Perhaps it's always been looked on as a "perk" of the job.

[mfd101]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No problem banning it between teachers and students, medics and patients, military officers and ranks. Why would it be a problem banning it between superiors and the hired help in government? Perhaps it's always been looked on as a "perk" of the job.

Logic would suggest that this should therefore apply everywhere, including the private sector: No two persons of differing rank in any organization should ever have sex.

 

What a bunch of weeping wailing wimpy children we have become. Thank goodness there's no war on. Oh! I forgot ...

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Logic would suggest that this should therefore apply everywhere, including the private sector: No two persons of differing rank in any organization should ever have sex.

 

What a bunch of weeping wailing wimpy children we have become. Thank goodness there's no war on. Oh! I forgot ...

Can't legislate morality, so can't have laws on such applying to the private sector. Government is paid for by the taxpayers so they can regulate government employees.

 

a bunch of weeping wailing wimpy children we have become.

Nothing to do with that. It's about stopping the powerful using their office to intimidate and force their employees to do things they don't want to.

[mfd101]

Well, I don't entirely disagree with you in principle except that (1) you're saying that government employees should have fewer rights than private sector employees, simply on the basis of where their income comes from, and (2) the very pregnant young lady in the current instance appears not to be complaining, which brings us back to CONSENTING adults ...

[ChrisY1]

This is going to make for some really dull Xmas parties in Canberra!

[rodney earl]

ALL politicians are the same. Do as I say not as I do. As for making it illegal for sex between people working in the government. This is allready the law in some places I wonder why it has taken so long to put in place in the political scene.? 

[Old Croc]

The hypocrisy of Joyce knows no bounds.  While extolling his "Christian" family values on others, he's been banging his girlfriend, denying it, and arranging other parliamentarians to employ her in high paying positions.

He's also collected living away from home allowance from the taxpayers while shacked up in her house in Canberra on parliamentary non sitting days.

 

Good to see he's been booted from the acting PM's position when Turnbull is overseas, but Finance Minister, (Arnie) Cormann  is to take over the reins instead!

Many geographically challenged people from certain unnamed countries have trouble distinguishing Australia from Austria normally. These Americans will be really confused now.

[car720]

19 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Silly me. I was under the mistaken impression it was always illegal for a person in government with power to be banging the hired help.

It's been illegal for a medic, nurse, teacher, etc to bang those in their care for as long as I can remember. Why on earth would ministers be allowed to?

Everything in Australia is double standards.

[klauskunkel]

What about BJs, can they still get BJs?

[NumbNut]

4 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

The hypocrisy of Joyce knows no bounds.  While extolling his "Christian" family values on others, he's been banging his girlfriend, denying it, and arranging other parliamentarians to employ her in high paying positions.

He's also collected living away from home allowance from the taxpayers while shacked up in her house in Canberra on parliamentary non sitting days.

 

Good to see he's been booted from the acting PM's position when Turnbull is overseas, but Finance Minister, (Arnie) Cormann  is to take over the reins instead!

Many geographically challenged people from certain unnamed countries have trouble distinguishing Australia from Austria normally. These Americans will be really confused now.

 

Exactly Croc. All the comments so far on this thread are about the act itself and not the hypocrisy of the Beet-rooter himself.

 

The Beet-rooter is a joke, as you've pointed out above, as is the National Party too. A question I'd like to see asked of the Nationals is how have they all of a sudden become the party of Coal and Fracking? Couldn't be the influence of Gina the Hutt could it? Surely not!

 

And to think the good folks of New England had a chance to drop-kick this flea recently following the by-election brought on by his citizenship drama... Opportunity missed, but then again maybe the New England electorate has the representative they deserve eh!

[DoctorG]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

He stopped short of sacking Joyce, which would have put the government's narrow one-seat majority at risk were he expelled from parliament.

Two problems with this statement.

1. Turnbull cannot sack Joyce as they are from different parties. They agreement is for the leader of the Nats becomes the Deputy PM, so only the Nats can roll their leader.

Turnbull might be able to demote him to a lesser portfolio but I am not sure about what would transpire after that.

2. Turnbull cannot expel anybody from the parliament. The best that the Nats can do is expel him from the Party and he could then sit as an independent if he so chose.

 

[Old Croc]

2 minutes ago, NumbNut said:

 

Exactly Croc. All the comments so far on this thread are about the act itself and not the hypocrisy of the Beet-rooter himself.

 

The Beet-rooter is a joke, as you've pointed out above, as is the National Party too. A question I'd like to see asked of the Nationals is how have they all of a sudden become the party of Coal and Fracking? Couldn't be the influence of Gina the Hutt could it? Surely not!

 

And to think the good folks of New England had a chance to drop-kick this flea recently following the by-election brought on by his citizenship drama... Opportunity missed, but then again maybe the New England electorate has the representative they deserve eh!

Haha. 

Yes, the National Party under his leadership seem to have forgotten their agricultural roots in favour of advocating destruction of the land!

It's probably surprising it's not Gina he's shacked up with. She certainly looks after him financially, despite having to withdraw the award she tried to give him a while back.  http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-11-22/gina-rinehart-awards-barnaby-joyce-40-thousand-dollars/9178612

 

The "good folks" (aka red necks) of Tamworth in New England got the Trump like representative they deserve.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

The hypocrisy of Joyce knows no bounds.  While extolling his "Christian" family values on others, he's been banging his girlfriend, denying it, and arranging other parliamentarians to employ her in high paying positions.

He's also collected living away from home allowance from the taxpayers while shacked up in her house in Canberra on parliamentary non sitting days.

 

Good to see he's been booted from the acting PM's position when Turnbull is overseas, but Finance Minister, (Arnie) Cormann  is to take over the reins instead!

Many geographically challenged people from certain unnamed countries have trouble distinguishing Australia from Austria normally. These Americans will be really confused now.

 

He's a Catholic so lying, hypocrisy, breaking one, if not more, of the 10 commandments are all OK as long as he confesses them and pretends to "repent" with a few dozen "hail Mary's" or whatever. 

 

It seems fraudulent claiming of expenses isn't considered something wrong by quite a few politicians in the democratic Western type countries. Nor is the acceptance of "gifts" of high value or nepotism and cronyism, and the latest 'squeeze' has to be looked after.

 

Those that seek to govern us, lecture us on morals, ethics, obeying the law and wish to instill "family values" always seem to think they're above such things, and get caught fiddling or shagging around or both. 

[natway09]

Very old saying but true

Fxxxx the staff,, fxxx the business

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Well, I don't entirely disagree with you in principle except that (1) you're saying that government employees should have fewer rights than private sector employees, simply on the basis of where their income comes from, and (2) the very pregnant young lady in the current instance appears not to be complaining, which brings us back to CONSENTING adults ...

I'm absolutely saying that government employees should have rules that might not apply to civilians.

If they don't like it they can go get a real job.