Barnaby Joyce tells dog to ‘sit down’ on live ABC interview, sparking debate over animal treatment and urban-rural divide.
SYDNEY: A top lawmaker from Australia’s far-right One Nation party has grabbed headlines after exploding at a misbehaving dog as he was grilled on live TV.
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was being interviewed on national broadcaster ABC on Monday night when he interrupted the one-on-one to shriek “sit down!”
“Sorry, it’s the dog,” he told the journalist.
The errant pooch then interrupted the proceedings again, with Joyce saying: “I do apologise for this dog, it’s just started to bail up.”
“Don’t worry about the dog, just answer the question,” replied journalist Sarah Ferguson, who was grilling Joyce on his party leader Pauline Hanson’s recent meeting with far-right British figurehead Tommy Robinson.
“Don’t be rude. Otherwise, this interview will come to a grinding halt, Sarah,” Joyce snapped back.
It’s not the first time the cattle-farming politician has fallen foul of man’s best friend — he once threatened to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs.
His outburst drew ire across Australia, with Victoria state lawmaker Georgie Purcell of the Animal Justice Party writing on social media: “if you think this is a normal way to speak to your dog, sit down!”
Asked about the feedback, Joyce told the Sydney Morning Herald the outcry reflected a divide between the cities and rural Australians.
“People in the regions laugh about it,” he said.
“People in the inner city think it’s a war crime.”
Opinion polls show One Nation, for decades a fringe group led by provocateur Hanson, has become Australia’s most popular party in recent months.
Hanson has defended her decision to appear on a podcast with Robinson, a former football hooligan turned anti-Islam activist whose profile has soared in recent years.
She drew outrage back home for telling Robinson the end of the “White Australia” policy — which restricted non-white immigration — in the 1970s was partly responsible for the country’s current ills.
Hanson later denied she was calling for a return to that policy.
