Barnaby Joyce, Australia's former deputy prime minister and current One Nation recruit, yelled at his dog during a live interview on ABC's 7.30 program, creating a viral moment that has overshadowed serious political issues.
What Happened During the Interview
Joyce appeared remotely from his home deck near Tamworth, New South Wales, to defend One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's European trip. Host Sarah Ferguson pressed him on Hanson's meeting with far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, whom she joined for a podcast. Joyce claimed Hanson didn't travel 'with a bio on Tommy Robinson' and alleged Channel Seven's Spotlight program originally 'suggested' the meeting, which Seven denied.
Ferguson then asked: 'It seems to me, Barnaby Joyce, that your decision to defect to One Nation is dragging you further into a place of intolerance and racial discrimination. You’re defending your leader but are you really comfortable with where she is taking you?'
The Dog Interruption
As Joyce's eyes darted off-screen, he suddenly yelled 'SIT DOWN!' at his dog. He then chuckled, 'Sorry. It’s the dog,' before continuing his answer without addressing Ferguson's question, instead noting One Nation's polling support. Joyce later apologized, saying the dog was 'barking incessantly' under the deck. Ferguson responded: 'Don’t worry about the dog. Just answer the question.' Joyce retorted: 'Don’t be rude. Otherwise, this interview will come to a grinding halt.'
Political Context
This comes amid scrutiny of One Nation. Hanson's trip included attending a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and downtime by a hotel pool with mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. She defended her actions in videos and interviews, clarifying she doesn't support the White Australia policy after controversial comments to Robinson. During the Spotlight special, Hanson said of Muslims: 'They breed and they are having children. In the Qur’an it says Allah will provide, well the Allah providing is the taxpayer.'
One Nation sits at about 30% primary vote in the latest Newspoll, equal with Labor. Joyce and Hanson have defended colleague Malcolm Roberts' advocacy of conspiracy theories about chemtrails and Covid, and comments supporting Vladimir Putin. Reports suggest Joyce's relationship with Hanson is under strain amid mounting controversies.
Viral Reactions
The moment was clipped and went viral. The Australian meme page Brown Cardigan posted the video with '#baddog'; the satirical Betoota Advocate commented: 'That SIDDOWN lands so crisp after a bottle of Grange on a jet black winter night.' Hanson herself posted the clip on Facebook, writing: 'You have to love live TV from home. Poor Barnaby had to put up with his dog distracting him during an already hostile ABC interview.' Asked about the moment in Perth, Hanson said: 'That’s Barnaby … this is why I love the people around me, we’re just human.'
Joyce's History with Dogs
This isn't Joyce's first dog-related viral moment. In 2015, as agriculture minister, he made Johnny Depp and Amber Heard film a hostage-style video apologizing for trying to bring their dogs into Australia against biosecurity laws, after threatening to put the dogs down.
