Barnaby bats on

Stuff reports:

Former Australia deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has slammed the initial reporting of his relationship with Vikki Campion, saying he was never asked if he was the father of his former staffer’s unborn child and that the issue of paternity is not certain.

In an interview that calls into question a key factor in Joyce losing the second-highest political office in the country, the Nationals MP said the baby boy he and Campion are expecting in April would be raised as “mine” but conceded the identity of the biological father was “a grey area”.

What is the man thinking. So he’s just told the world that his girlfriend was having sex with someone else at the same time as with him. Does he think this will make the story go away?

The pair’s travel does appear to make the paternity uncertain. Joyce was in Europe travelling on official business – accompanied by his then wife Natalie – for 10 days from June 23, 2017. Campion was in North Queensland at the time.

He then commenced a period as acting prime minister upon his return in early July during which he was accompanied by close personal protection body guards. The couple are expecting the birth of a baby son in early April.

Joyce has told friends he and Campion were not “partners” in June-July of 2017, although there was an intimate relationship forming on a “sporadic basis”.

TMI!