Barnaby Joyce jokingly told guests at his ‘bush bash’ wedding to former mistress Vikki Campion to avoid ‘banging on’ because the paparazzi were camped ‘on the other side of the creek’.
The former Deputy Prime Minister, 56, married his ex-political adviser Mrs Campion, 36, in an outdoor wedding at his sprawling property at Woolbrook, west of Walcha, in the northern tablelands of New South Wales on Sunday afternoon.
This came almost six years after their scandalous affair came to light, helping to usher in the infamous ‘bonk ban’ imposed on parliamentarians and their staff by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia, Joyce’s new father-in-law Peter Campion gave an insider’s account of the couple’s happy day – and the unfortunate war of words that followed with the adult daughters of the politician who did not attend their father’s wedding.
Mr Campion revealed his daughter was more than an hour late for the ceremony and suffered a wardrobe malfunction when she arrived.
The former Deputy Prime Minister, 56, married his ex-political adviser Mrs Campion, 36, in an outdoor wedding at his sprawling property at Woolbrook, west of Walcha, in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales on Sunday afternoon (photo).
Ms Campion wore a cream strapless dress with gold earrings and black heeled cowboy boots, as she walked alongside her new husband with a glass of champagne after the ceremony and a cigarette in hand – smiling largely to his guests (photo)
Mr Campion revealed his daughter was more than an hour late for the ceremony – and suffered a wardrobe malfunction when she arrived.
“The bride wanted to gallop. I said to her ‘you want to walk more naturally’ but she was enthusiastic,” Mr Campion said.
“She was about an hour and eight minutes late and I had to hold her hand to slow her down and not gallop forward.”
But Ms. Campion’s long ivory dress kept getting twigs caught in its hem – despite the fact that she was wearing black, heeled cowboy boots.
“He was dragging around the ground and grabbing sticks and twigs and there was a constant swarm of bridesmaids removing twigs until Vikki said, ‘It’s a bush wedding, don’t worry , let the sticks pile up’.”
Here, Daily Mail Australia provides a detailed account of the marriage – and its heartbreaking aftermath.
Barnaby’s Warning to Guests
Mr Campion said his son-in-law jokingly warned his approximately 120 guests to control their alcohol consumption and avoid “banging on it” because he was aware that press photographers had their sharp lenses trained on the event.
“We drank a lot of champagne but no one was screwed,” Mr Campion said.
The couple’s young sons, Sebastian and Thomas, aged five and four, could be seen outside the venue before the ceremony, ready to play their role as page.
Joyce jokingly told her guests to avoid “knocking” because there were press photographers waiting to photograph the seizures.
Joyce himself jumped out of a Toyota Landcruiser onto the property before the ceremony, before guests – including former Nationals MP George Christensen – began arriving in a convoy of 4x4s.
Hours later, the newlyweds beamed as they walked together, hand in hand, to greet their guests – donning their Akubra hats.
A new gold wedding ring could be seen on Joyce’s hand as his fiancée puffed on a cigarette and chatted with friends.
Guests enjoyed appetizers and tapas, but there was no traditional cake – just a wedding pavlova and cheesecake.
What was supposed to be a low-key barbecue for a dozen guests turned into a party bringing together more than 80 of the couple’s closest friends and family.
A dance floor has been commissioned for a shed on the property, with guests invited to arrive by ute or 4×4, roll out their gifts and party late into the night.
The groom’s speech
Joyce entertained the audience with anecdotes about his first meetings with his future mistress-turned-wife who was then working as a journalist, saying he was struck by her appearance.
“The first time he met her was in Parramatta and she was doing a story about fuel prices and she saw him on the footpath there and she scolded him, she said ‘ get your nose out of my story’ because he was stealing it. thunder,” Mr. Campion said.
Vikki Campion puffed on a cigarette with guests at her own wedding reception on Sunday (pictured)
“The second time was in Kirribilli when he was walking down the street and he saw Vikki and she told him how to get there.”
Joyce’s relationship with Ms Campion sent shockwaves through Australia’s political scene when their affair was revealed in February 2018 – two months before she gave birth to their son, Sebastian.
Mr Campion – who once said he would burn Barnaby alive, until he reconciled with his daughter and future son-in-law – said his daughter had been slandered in the media as having robbed Barnaby of his first marriage.
“It was a very good afternoon, a good atmosphere, with about 110 to 120 people, including aunts and (Vikki’s) mother, who became very emotional and tearful during the speeches,” he said. he adds.
Missing adult daughters
Even though Joyce managed to avoid the fireworks that night, they definitely flew after the wedding.
On Monday, his youngest daughter Odette told Daily Mail Australia that neither she nor her three older sisters Caroline, 23, Julia, 24, and Bridgette, 26, were present.
“Personally, I wasn’t invited to the wedding, my father didn’t even tell me about it, I found out through other sources,” she said.
Odette, 20, celebrated a friend’s birthday on Saturday evening.
Odette Joyce (pictured) said she was not invited to her father’s wedding to Vikki Campion on Sunday
Barnaby Joyce’s other family, photo from left to right: daughters Odette, Bridgette, Caroline and Julia. His ex-wife Natalie is pictured, center
“If my father doesn’t want to think about me or even consider me in the decisions he makes that ultimately affect me, then frankly, I don’t have time to think about him,” said Odette.
Odette also criticized her father for allowing a media photographer to photograph the happy couple’s nuptials.
She called it “a great attempt on their part to stay relevant when everyone else is done with it.”
“I also think that involving the media and inviting them to the wedding is not only in poor taste, but also in bad taste,” she said.
The girls’ mother, Natalie Abberfield, who was married to Joyce for 24 years before the couple split in 2018, struck a more dignified tone.
“All I want to say is I would just like to wish the happy couple all the best,” she said.
Peter Campion proudly gifted his daughter, saying that if Barnaby’s daughters had attended the “beautiful afternoon” they would have been “welcomed with open arms”.
Stepfather bites
Peter Campion sensationally told this publication that his son-in-law’s daughters needed to “let go” and accept that their father had left their mother.
He said they had been invited and “would have been welcomed with open arms.”
“I would say to them ‘you missed a beautiful afternoon when your father married the woman he is in love with and you should accept that he left your mother… a long time ago’,” Mr Campion said . .
Speaking as he returned home after the wedding, Mr Campion said the four sisters had to face “the truth”.
“They were all invited, I saw it on the electronic invitation list that was sent to all of us. No one was invited and if they claimed that it was to attract attention,” he said.
“Girls should just stop misrepresenting themselves on their mother’s behalf, calm down and tell their mother… they’re going to Barnaby’s wedding.”
“They could have arrived that day and would have had a front row seat.”
Vikki Campion and Barnaby Joyce are pictured with their sons, Sebastian and Thomas
“I would have loved to meet them.”
Mr Campion also criticized Joyce’s first wife, Natalie, noting that she “was the Queen of Tamworth” but was no longer.
The new father-in-law claimed he referred to Barnaby’s daughters in his speech.
“They weren’t excluded and everyone would have liked them to be there,” he said.
“It’s not true that they were excluded.”
Mr Campion also claimed to have mocked the left’s “obsession” with renewable energy and climate change.
“Everything I said was very well received,” he insisted.
