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Australia's scandal-hit deputy leader Barnaby Joyce said on Friday that he will resign as deputy prime minister and National Party of Australia leader, after weeks of mounting pressure over his affair with a now-pregnant former aide.
Joyce, whose National Party rules alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberals, said he would officially step down on Monday. "I will say on Monday morning at the party room [meeting], I will step down as the leader of the National Party and deputy leader of Australia," he said at a press conference in Armidale.
The 50-year-old will remain in parliament, safeguarding Turnbull's one-seat majority.
Joyce has ended his 24-year marriage and confirmed that his current partner Vikki Campion is pregnant with his child.
The revelations have damaged father-of-four Joyce’s credibility as a family man and he is also facing claims he allowed Campion to work in his and another ministerial office during the affair – potentially breaching the ministerial code of conduct.
Barnaby Joyce, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, speaks during a media conference in the town of Armidale, Australia February 23, 2018.
"It's incredibly important that there be a circuit-breaker, not just for the parliament, but more importantly, a circuit-breaker for Vikki (his lover), for my unborn child, my daughters and for Nat (his wife). This has got to stop. It's not fair on them. It's just completely and utterly unwarranted, the sort of observation that's happened," said Joyce.
Joyce's resignation came after his fallout with Turnbull, who accused him of "a shocking error of judgment". Joyce hit back by calling the prime minister "inept".
He was due to be the acting prime minister this week with Turnbull meeting US President Donald Trump in Washington, but opted to take leave.
Turnbull has slapped a ban on sex between cabinet members and their staff in the wake of the Joyce affairs. He twice declined to offer support for his deputy when asked by reporters in Washington on Thursday.
Junior Nationals minister David Gillespie has indicated he would be a candidate for the vacancy, while reports said Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack had significant backing. The new Nationals leader will automatically become deputy prime minister, under a coalition agreement between the two major parties of the centre-right.
(AFP)
