Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce owns several parcels of land 20km from the Inland rail project

SHARRI MARKSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL EDITOR, The Daily Telegraph
February 21, 2018 5:28am
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/deputy-prime-minister-barnaby-joyce-owns-several-parcels-of-land-20km-from-the-inland-rail-project/news-story/677e96e1ae43bd12ae03fb810b531893

DEPUTY Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce did not declare during Cabinet discussions on the Inland Rail that he had bought five large parcels of land within a 15-minute drive from the planned route.

When former Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester took the Inland Rail project to Cabinet, The Daily Telegraph understands it passed quickly, with no mention from Mr Joyce of any potential conflict of interest relating to five lots of land he had bought within about 20km of the project.

Nationals MP Darren Chester speaking with Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Kym Smith

The current Nationals leader’s office said that he was not required to make any declaration.

Mr Joyce purchased the first two blocks of rural land, on two separate land titles, in Warrumbungle Shire, north of Coonamble, in July 2006 for $230,000.

He added to his land purchase two years later with an adjacent Gwabegar property and a second Warrumbungle property, occupying another two land titles, in February 2008 for $342,571.

The Cabinet handbook’s section on Declarations of Private Interests states: “Ministers and officials attending Cabinet or Cabinet committee meetings must declare any private interests of which they are aware.”

A map showing Joyce's property in relation to the proposed rail line

Mr Joyce’s spokeswoman indicated that he did not need to declare the land to Cabinet during discussions on the ­Inland Rail route.

“There has never been a proposal to have a stop near Warrumbungle or Gwabegar,” she said. “Mr Joyce has had no role in selecting the route.”

Opposition Infrastructure, Transport and Regional ­Development spokesman Anthony Albanese said this appeared to be yet another breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct by Mr Joyce.

“Given that Barnaby Joyce has spoken about the benefits of Inland Rail for those on the land along the route, it is reasonable to expect he would be mindful of declaring any direct interest he might have,” he said.

The Daily Telegraph understands Mr Chester took the proposal to Cabinet and it was adopted swiftly. The only area of debate was the route’s alignment near Toowoomba in Queensland.

The value of the rural land properties near the Inland Rail route would be expected to increase when the project is complete.

At the time he purchased the first two lots of land in 2006, Mr Joyce was a Queensland senator in the Howard government.

Joyce’s office said that he was not required to make any declaration on the land in question. Picture: Gary Ramage

During 2006 work was done by then transport and regional services minister Warren Truss on proposed routes for a potential inland rail project.

The North-South Rail Corridor Study, made public in September 2006, included Coonamble as a stop on a proposed route.

The proposed rail route is about 20km west of Mr Joyce’s properties.

Father’s message to Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce: ‘Give yourself an uppercut’

Chris Calcino, The Cairns Post
February 8, 2018 12:01am

THE estranged father of Barnaby Joyce’s pregnant new partner has told the deputy prime minister to “give himself an uppercut”.

Mr Joyce’s new relationship with 33-year-old former Tolga resident Vikki Campion has become national headline fodder after it emerged the couple was expecting a baby in April.

Ms Campion, a former Atherton State High School student, worked as a journalist for the Tablelander in Atherton and the Townsville Bulletin before moving to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and then landing a job as Mr Joyce’s media adviser.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

Vikki Campion. Picture: Adam Taylor

Her father, prolific Cairns Post letter writer Peter Campion, said he had not spoken to his daughter for several years following a falling-out.

The retired firefighter said he first learned of Ms Campion’s relationship with the 50-year-old New England MP from media reports yesterday.


“Vikki’s mother and I think that with Baaa-naby as dad the kid will probably be a perfect little lamb,” he said in a written statement to the Cairns Post.

Retired firefighter Peter Campion's daughter Vikki Campion is expecting a baby with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce. PICTURE: SUPPLIED

“Politics sure does make for strange bedfellows.

“We just never imagined our daughter would hop into one with a former Kiwi.”

Mr Campion has been an outspoken critic of the Turnbull government, which he says has forgotten its conservative values.

He last penned a scathing letter to Mr Joyce in August but doubted it was read.


“Our future son-in-law should give himself an uppercut for failing to give one to the PM,” he said.

A pregnant Vikki Campion pictured in Canberra. Picture John Grainger

Retired firefighter Peter Campion's daughter Vikki Campion is expecting a baby with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce. PICTURE: SUPPLIED

“I will soon be having a deep and meaningful discussion with young Barnyard and explaining to him carefully and logically why he needs to put the ‘coal’ back into ‘coalition’.


“When the deputy prime minister calls to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage I will be informing him at length on the many shortcomings of the Nationals and their partners in the Talkbull Coagulation Team.

Vikki Campion and Barnaby Joyce. Source: Facebook

“Vikki’s mother and I have high hopes for the couple and their new family unit and we do hope that Baa can find a respectable job one day.”

Mr Joyce announced in the same-sex marriage debate in parliament in December he had split from his wife of 24 years Natalie Joyce, the mother of his four children.

One of the architects of the change, Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, said he was not in a position to pass judgment.


“This is his personal life,” he said. “I think it’s something he has to deal with.”