Barnaby Joyce has claimed he was so ashamed of himself after a drunken night out earlier this year that he gave up alcohol for good.
Daily Mail Australia has revealed exclusive video of the nation’s former deputy prime minister, 57, lying on the pavement on Lonsdale Street in the Canberra suburb of Braddon on a Wednesday night in February at 11.26pm.
Sources told this newspaper that the Nationals leader was sitting in a large flower pot having a lively telephone conversation with his wife, Vikki Campion, when he fell, ‘rolled’ on the floor and continued his profanity-laden call.
Joyce said this week from his office in Parliament that he and Campion stopped storing alcohol in their home and that he has not touched a drop since that night, calling it a low point in his life.
“I don’t remember large parts of the night. And that’s never, ever happened to me before. And I never, ever want that to happen again,” he said. The Sydney Morning Herald.
Joyce’s fellow National Party MPs said they had noticed a difference in his behavior since he returned to Parliament after coalition leaders David Littleproud and Peter Dutton ordered him to take a break.
He says that in his free time he has practiced fencing, done manual labor in the fields, lost 15 kilos and is “sharper” than ever.
Joyce also revealed that someone who closely inspected the footage told her that her phone was upside down and that Campion may not have heard what she was saying.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was filmed rolling on the floor and muttering profanities into his phone on a Wednesday night in February (pictured)
Earlier in the day, Mr Joyce appeared in Parliament wearing the same blue and white tie.
The video raised questions about Joyce’s ability to represent his constituents, although some said it would not damage the brand of the man Tony Abbott once described as “Australia’s best retail politician”.
But Mr Joyce admitted this week: “I disgraced myself and woke up the next morning and said ‘that’s enough’ so I didn’t have another drink.”
Liberal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said at the time that the incident was “sad.”
“These things do nothing for the profession of politicians… they confirm, in people’s minds, in the public’s mind, a negative association with politics, and I think that’s a real shame,” he told ABC radio.
“But I personally hope he gets the help he needs because it’s a very unusual situation for someone of that age.”
Mr Joyce insisted he was not an alcoholic and said he had recklessly mixed drink with medication that night.
“If I were an alcoholic, it would have been impossible for me to quit, I would have desperately searched for a drink. One morning I woke up and said, ‘That’s it,'” Joyce said.
He said he hasn’t missed drinking much, but “at some point” he might “have a beer again.”
A slimmed-down Barnaby Joyce in Parliament this week. He claimed that he has lost 15kg since he gave up alcohol after his infamous night.
Mr Joyce also claimed his renewed focus was not being used to attempt another bid for the Nationals leadership.
There was speculation earlier this month of an internal coup against current leader David Littleproud after he failed to secure a pledge from Liberal leader Peter Dutton to fund $30 billion in projects the Nationalists considered priorities.
But National Party member for Mallee in Victoria, Anne Webster, disagreed, saying: “This is the most stable period in the National Party since I was elected four years ago.”
Mrs Campion said of the now infamous night that she was “half asleep” when her husband phoned her and criticized the person who filmed him for not asking him if he needed help.
“It’s disgusting that when they needed him they couldn’t even check that he was okay,” she said.
But the witness responded and said there was no evidence that Joyce needed help.
“Joyce looked relaxed and happy lying on the side of the road and didn’t seem to need any help,” the source said.
Barnaby Joyce is pictured with his wife Vikki Campion the day before he was filmed lying on Lonsdale Street in Braddon, Canberra.
In the video, Joyce could be seen lying on the sidewalk with his legs raised and his jacket spread out.
He was wearing the same blue and white tie he had worn during Question Time in Parliament earlier in the day.
Campion said her husband was not referring to her when he called someone a “dead bastard” during the phone call.
“I think he was calling himself that, he likes to self-flagellate,” he said.
At the time, Joyce described the scene as “very embarrassing” in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.
“I was walking back to my accommodation after Parliament rose at 10pm,” he said.
‘While talking on the phone, I sat on the edge of a planter, fell, continued talking on the phone and very animatedly referred to myself for falling.
“I got up and walked home.”
The couple also sold their Braddon flat that belonged to Ms Campion this year and Mr Joyce sold his family home in Tamworth for $1.1 million.
The couple tied the knot in a bush party-style wedding at their property in Woolbrook, in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, in November 2023.
Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion at their bush-bash wedding in November 2023