Barnaby Joyce’s young sons restlessly climbed on their mother Vikki Campion while he was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister for the second time.
The father of six – who has four daughters from his collapsed marriage and two sons with his former staffer – reclaimed leadership of the Nationals in a party vote on Monday.
The leader of the National Party – which is in a Coalition with Scott Morrison‘s Liberal Party – holds the role of Deputy Prime Minister when in government.
Re-elected Leader of the Nationals Barnaby Joyce poses for a photograph with partner Vikki Campion and sons Sebastian and Thomas
Barnaby Joyce hold his son Sebastian as he poses with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in quarantine and Governor-General David Hurley after the swearing in ceremony
Thomas perched calmly on a chair while Sebastian climbed on his mother, prompting her to pick him up and place him on a chair next to her
Mr Joyce was sworn in by the Governor-General, the Queen’s representative in Australia, at Government House on Tuesday morning.
His partner Ms Campion and their two sons Sebastian, three, and Thomas, two, sat in the front row to watch the ceremony.
Thomas perched calmly on a chair while Sebastian climbed on his mother, prompting her to pick him up and place him on a chair next to her.
Mr Joyce, 54, has become Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Regional Development and will select his frontbench companions on Tuesday.
He was made Deputy Prime Minister for the second time on Monday after the Nationals voted to axe Michael McCormack in a party room meeting.
Mr Joyce was sworn in by the Governor-General, the Queen’s representative in Australia, at Government House on Tuesday morning
Nationals member for Lyne David Gillespie, Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and son Thomas during the swearing-in ceremony
His partner Ms Campion and their two sons Sebastian, three, and Thomas, two, sat in the front row to watch the ceremony
Ms Joyce’s 24-year marriage to Natalie collapsed in December 2017 and two months later it was revealed he had been having an affair with his former media advisor Ms Campion.
In February 2018 it was revealed the pair were expecting a child in a Daily Telegraph front page which featured a picture of a pregnant Ms Campion under the headline ‘Bundle of Joyce’.
The Nationals leader initially claimed the child may not be his, insisting the identity of the father was a ‘grey area’ – but said he would not take a paternity test and would raise the boy named Sebastian as his.
Further details of Mr Joyce’s affair emerged in a book by political insider Niki Savva, who wrote that he was spotted with Ms Campion at a doctor’s surgery for ‘scans’ while she was pregnant.
Ms Campion, a former journalist and state National Party advisor who was hired by Mr Joyce in mid-2016, apparently spoke to her colleagues about her ‘closeness’ with the deputy prime minister, telling fellow government staff about the bushwalks they went on together.
Natalie Joyce (centre) with daughters Bridgette, Julia, Caroline, and Odette
Mr Joyce stepped down as Nationals leader and deputy prime minister in February 2018 when details of his relationship with Vikki Campion made national headlines. The pair are pictured with their two sons, Sebastian and Thomas
Vikki Campion (pictured) was a journalist before becoming a staffer for the National Party
Ms Savva, a former press secretary to ex-Treasurer Peter Costello, wrote: ‘She made no secret of her closeness to Joyce.
‘She would describe him as the loneliest man in Parliament.’
The affair prompted the introduction of the so-called ‘bonk ban’ in Federal Parliament to stop relationships between ministers and their staffers.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack was overthrown in a party-room meeting on Monday after Joyce supporter Senator Matt Canavan moved a spill motion.
The spill – the third attempt to roll Mr McCormack in as many years – was prompted by growing disquiet over his lacklustre performance as Acting Prime Minister last week, when Mr Morrison was overseas.
But it came after long-running concerns that Mr McCormack was not cutting through in the Nationals’ regional heartlands amid fears that conservative voters would turn to One Nation or the Shooters, Farmers and Fishers Party.
Mr Joyce claimed he did not expect to win a leadership ballot on Monday morning, adding: ‘If I thought it was going to happen I would have brought my hat.’
He said: ‘I will try, always, to be the better person. I acknowledge my faults. I resigned, I’ve spent three years on the backbench. I don’t walk away from making sure that I can be a better person to do a better job.
‘And I’m reminded by that by the people that I love dearly – my four daughters and my two sons and Vikki.’
Mr Morrison welcomed Mr Joyce’s election and thanked Mr McCormack for being a ‘tremendous bloke’.
Mr Joyce was married and already the father of four daughters when he embarked on an affair with former staffer Vikki Campion (pictured)