New Zealand Interior Affairs Minister - who is a member
of the ruling conservative government (not Labour) has
confirmed it was questions by Fairfax journalists which
led to the outing of Mr Joyce. Mr Dunne slammed the
conspiracy claims as "so much utter nonsense." Australian
media inquiries were the instigators of the questions.

Labor dismissed the government's attack as an attempt to
distract from Mr Joyce's eligibility to remain in
Parliament.

Penny Wong has stated - "For the Turnbull government to
then turn this into a diplomatic incident to try to
distract attention from the failings of the Deputy
Prime Minister is both reckless and damaging."

It seems that Andrew Bolt totally agrees.
Read his column on the farce that Julie Bishop turned
her press conference into and the embarrassment that
she's causing Australia. A very revealing column by
Mr Bolt.

I dare say there will be more to come in the days ahead.
The government is hanging on by one seat - and if
they lose that? No wonder they're desperate. Their
current behaviour speaks volumes.

Even the dimmest-witted should now be aware of the seriously bad stuff that goes on behind the veil of trivialities like SSM, the legitimacy of Australia day, and Recognition.

Leoj,

I dislike the Labor Party intensely, and I loathe Wong. But, that's politics, and there are many other reasons why we would be better off without Wong; this is not one of them.

Would you not prefer Joyce to be uncovered rather than allowing him to continue on under false pretences?

ttbn,

Joyce will have his day in court. I will not be commenting while that is in train. Others had the same option and had they taken it, they too should have been accorded the politeness and right to gather and present their case without political and media speculation. Or as applied in this case, political interference.

It is relevant that the NZ politician involved has been counselled by his leader.

Wong should resign.

AJ,

"And that, folks, is why you should never post a comment using your phone.

#Autocorrectfail"

Aspirin politicians, pills, short for 'pillock'.

Dear Is Mise,

You might enjoy this:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/farce-julie-bishop-turns-barnabys-embarrassment-into-international-incident/news-story/1f2b8fed6230a787641a28e627ea851a

leoj,

You can comment as much as you like. Joyce will not 'be in court'. The government has asked the High Court to interpret Section 44, hoping that the activist judges will be able to find a new interpretation to say their (the government's) sorry arses. Legal people have already opined that it will not be possible.