Australia’s scandal-hit deputy leader Barnaby Joyce announced Friday he was quitting and moving to the backbench amid claims of sexual harassment and controversy over an affair with a now-pregnant former aide. ADVERTISEMENT“I will say on Monday morning at the party room (meeting), I will step down as the leader of the National Party and deputy leader of Australia,” Joyce said at a press conference in Armidale, his country New South Wales electorate. “Any allegation of sexual harassment is a very serious allegation,” he told reporters. The new Nationals leader will automatically become deputy prime minister, under a coalition agreement between the two major parties of the centre-right. The daily media headlines on the scandal have riveted the Australian public and sparked debate about workplace culture amid the global #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 23, 2018 03:56 UTC