ARMIDALE (Boscutti Report) — Barnaby Joyce has announced his resignation as Nationals Leader and Deputy Prime Minister after weeks of fallout over his affair with a former staffer and now partner, Vikki Campion, who is pregnant with his child.
Mr Joyce saw his support diminish after the revelation on Thursday night that a sexual harassment complaint had been made against him to the country-based National Party, the junior slightly backward partner in the ruling Liberal-National Coalition.
Keeping to his word that if he resigned he would eat his hat, Mr Joyce munched on his trademark Akubra at a live television news conference.
A spokesman said ‘we tried everything to generate sympathy in the media’.
‘We had the pregnant girl looking harried shots, we had the Barnaby in the kitchen looking like a regular guy with his hat on drying the dishes shots, we even had the sad looking millionaire shots,’ he said.
‘I guess the only thing we didn’t try was the ultrasound shots of the unborn baby.’