Barnaby Joyce’s wife Vikki Campion has banned the ABC’s 7.30 program from their property after accusing host Sarah Ferguson of unfairly criticising the One Nation MP over his viral dog interruption.
Ms Campion said Mr Joyce was answering questions from his farm near Tamworth when his dog Stella began barking outside during the live interview.
She argued viewers did not hear the disruption because video conferencing software reduced background noise, while Mr Joyce was forced to continue answering questions with the distraction.
The comments come after Mr Joyce drew attention online when he interrupted the interview to yell at his dog to “sit down” during questioning about One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s immigration policies.
Ms Campion defended her husband’s actions, saying the incident had been misrepresented.
“Barnaby is a big boy and can take the heat,” she wrote in a post on Substack.
“But it is one thing for Ferguson to cast a live stream into my house, and then question whether my dog exists.
“She might not have heard the barking, thanks to noise-cancelling audio, but I could.”
Ms Campion said broadcasters needed to better understand that interviews conducted from rural properties were different from studio settings.
She said journalists expected politicians to participate in interviews but often criticised the conditions when they did.
“We are not in a studio. We don’t have a whole team fussing around us. We’re on a farm, doing our best to appease the media,” she wrote.
“If you don’t do the interview you are accused of ‘hiding’ from transparency and if you do the interview, you are smashed for yelling at a dog… to sit down.”
Ms Campion claimed Stella had been barking at a passing vehicle during the interview and that the dog was acting protectively towards Mr Joyce.
“What viewers and a sanctimonious host missed on Monday night was a mostly-black dog, barking into the pitch-black night at a passing vehicle she found suspicious,” she wrote.
“Ferguson doesn’t have to conduct her interview with incessant barking in her ear.
“But Barnaby has to answer her questions with that ongoing distraction without comment, apparently.”
Ms Campion said the ABC would no longer be welcome at the property following the controversy.
“Never again. ABC 7.30 is banned from my property,” she wrote.
“If Barnaby wants to do it, he can do it in Sydney or Canberra, in a studio where lights and microphones and cameras are done for him.”
The incident occurred while Mr Joyce was being questioned about whether he supported One Nation’s push for mass deportations.
The former deputy prime minister turned away from the camera during the interview and shouted at Stella before apologising to Ms Ferguson.
“Sorry, it’s a dog,” Mr Joyce said.
The interview became tense when Ms Ferguson asked Mr Joyce to return to the question.
“Don’t worry about the dog, just answer the question,” she said.
Mr Joyce responded: “Oh, don’t be rude. Don’t be rude otherwise this interview will come to a grinding halt, Sarah.”
Mr Joyce later explained the incident, telling Sky News the dog had been barking beneath the deck of his property and making it difficult for him to hear.
“She must have decided that the camera was attacking me, and she had to defend me from … maybe she did have to defend me from Sarah Ferguson,” he said.
Mr Joyce said Stella had only received a normal instruction from a working farm dog.
“Well, you couldn’t hear it, but I could, and it was under my skin. It was under the floor, under the deck, and it was just barking incessantly,” he said.
“Of course, I’m up against the lefties on the ABC, and the media chin music’s going pretty well, and I can’t really hear the questions, and I can’t hear myself think.
“It was a farm dog, so I gave it the farm dog instruction to: ‘Do you mind Stella being a little bit quiet till I finish this interview?’”
Mr Joyce said there was no ongoing issue between him and his dog.
“She still loves me,” he said.