Josh, every man and his dog is talking about Barnaby Joyce and his … dog this morning. What’s going on?
Well, Australia’s former deputy prime minister and One Nation recruit bellowed at his dog in the middle of a live TV interview last night.
One Nation is often accused of dog whistling – this was dog yelling.
That’s not something you hear every day. What happened?
Joyce agreed to front the ABC’s 7.30 program last night, where he crossed remotely from what appeared to be the deck at his home outside Tamworth in rural New South Wales.
He was peppered with questions about Pauline Hanson’s European “working holiday”, particularly her decision to meet the far-right agitator and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson, whom she joined for a cosy podcast during her visit to the UK. Joyce was defending his leader, claiming she didn’t travel “with a bio on Tommy Robinson” and again claimed Channel Seven’s Spotlight program had originally “suggested” that Hanson meet the far-right podcaster – which Seven has repeatedly denied.
The 7.30 host, Sarah Ferguson, said she didn’t accept Joyce’s claims that Hanson didn’t know Robinson’s record.
So … where does the dog come in?
Ferguson then asked: “It seems to me, Barnaby Joyce, that your decision to defect to One Nation is dragging you further into a place of intolerance and racial discrimination. You’re defending your leader but are you really comfortable with where she is taking you?”
Joyce’s eyes could be seen darting off-screen during that question, and he began answering:
“I think – SIT DOWN!” he yelled, all of a sudden. It was a startling moment.
“Sorry. It’s the dog,” he then chuckled, before continuing his answer without addressing the substance of Ferguson’s question, instead noting One Nation’s growing polling support.
Joyce later apologised for the dog, which he said was interrupting him. Ferguson responded: “Don’t worry about the dog. Just answer the question.”
Joyce snipped back: “Don’t be rude. Otherwise, this interview will come to a grinding halt.”
That sounds like a pretty heated interaction. All jokes aside, what’s going on underneath this viral moment?
The viral dog moment could almost overshadow the serious issues at play here.
This comes at a fraught time for One Nation. Hanson’s gaffe-filled trip to Europe – aside from agreeing to meet Robinson – included her attendance at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and downtime by a hotel pool in Italy with the mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. Hanson put out two separate videos at the weekend defending her actions and Joyce and Lee Hanson have given media interviews to clarify that the party leader didn’t support the White Australia policy after controversial comments to Robinson.
During the Spotlight special, in one particularly vitriolic comment, Hanson also claimed: “They [Muslims] breed and they are having children. In the Qur’an it says Allah will provide, well the Allah providing is the taxpayer.”
It also comes amid increasing scrutiny and spotlight on One Nation policies and its members, as the party sits on equal polling footing with Labor – about 30% primary in the latest Newspoll. Hanson and Joyce have had to defend their controversial colleague Malcolm Roberts and his advocacy of conspiracy theories surrounding chemtrails and Covid, and comments supporting Vladimir Putin.
There has been reporting that Joyce’s relationship with Hanson is under strain, amid the mounting controversies in One Nation.
Now for the most important question: do we know what breed of dog he has?
Joyce tells me he has a “staffy-border collie” cross. He adds that the dog had been under the deck where he was standing, “barking incessantly”.
And what have been the reactions?
The moment was, naturally, clipped up and went viral online within moments. The Australian meme page Brown Cardigan posted the video with the caption “#baddog”; the satirical news site Betoota Advocate commented on the post: “That SIDDOWN lands so crisp after a bottle of Grange on a jet black winter night.”
Hanson herself posted the clip on Facebook, writing: “You have to love live TV from home.
“Poor Barnaby had to put up with his dog distracting him during an already hostile ABC interview.”
Asked about the moment at an event in Perth on Tuesday, Hanson responded: “That’s Barnaby … this is why I love the people around me, we’re just human.”
Hang on, I’m getting a vague memory … this isn’t Joyce’s first viral moment with a dog, is it?
Who remembers Pistol and Boo? In another life, as agriculture minister in 2015, Joyce made the Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard film something of a hostage video apologising for trying to bring their dogs into the country against Australia’s strict biosecurity laws. That was after he threatened to put the two pooches down in a saga that also went viral worldwide.
You’d think Joyce’s pet would have learned to behave, knowing their owner’s record with punishing bad dogs …
