After Sunday Night was criticised for not asking Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion the right questions, Channel Seven has released footage of “the exchanges viewers didn’t see”.
The show, and its reporter Alex Cullen, was slammed for not asking about Joyce’s alleged misuse of taxpayer funding through travel with his girlfriend, or about the offices Campion was shifted to after staff learned of their affair.
On Monday, Cullen responded to the criticism on Twitter, saying that he did ask about “Joyce’s alleged tax-payer funded travel rorts and claims of sexual misconduct”, but didn’t air the answers because they were “the same as we’ve heard time and time again”.
However, during Seven’s evening news, footage of the interview that had been edited out appeared in a segment.
In it, we saw Joyce saying his expenses have been thoroughly investigated by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
“They have investigated this to death,” the former deputy prime minister said.
“I’ve had like 160 inquiries and at this point not one, not one, has come up saying ‘Oh, this is a problem’.”
Campion shared that her expense claims have been examined as well.
“They have found that they actually owe me money,” she said.
Watch the extra segments in the video below. Post continues after.
The 33-year-old also disputed claims that her jobs in Resources Minister Matt Canavan’s office, and later with then-chief Nationals whip Damian Drum came with lucrative pay rises.
“My wage actually dropped significantly,” she said, adding that she has missed out on maternity leave pay.
During another part of the interview that didn’t make it to air, the parents to one-month-old Sebastian spoke of the abuse they’d received online, including Campion being called a “rent-a-root”.
However perhaps the most interesting statement omitted from the original interview was Joyce’s admission it was not his partner’s pregnancy, but the sexual harassment claims – which he denies – that forced him to resign as Nationals leader.
“This is garbage and the purpose of this, I believe, was to force me out of my job,” he said.