During a live broadcast on the Australian broadcaster ABC, Joyce suddenly screamed at his dog in front of the camera.Image: Keystone
Australia’s most famous political hooligan is once again causing a stir. This time it’s a dog who turns a TV interview with him into a viral spectacle.
July 22, 2026, 3:01 a.mJuly 22, 2026, 3:01 a.m
Anna-Lena Janzen / t-online
Barnaby Joyce has often caused a stir in the media for his eccentric behavior. Now the well-known Australian politician and former deputy prime minister has hit the headlines again with a strange scene: During a live broadcast on the Australian broadcaster ABC, he suddenly screamed at his dog in front of the camera. The scene went viral on social media.
Joyce, who recently joined the Australian Parliament for the far-right One Nation party, was asked by ABC presenter Sarah Ferguson about the recent antics of his party leader Pauline Hanson. Hanson met, among others, the British right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson on a trip to Europe – a meeting that caused outrage in Australia. While Ferguson confronted Joyce with critical questions about Hanson’s closeness to Robinson and racist tendencies in the party, Joyce’s eyes kept wandering.
Joyce: “Sorry, it’s the dog”
Suddenly the politician turned his head to the side and shouted loudly: “Sit!” – meaning his dog, which Joyce said was barking under the deck of his house in New South Wales. “Sorry, it’s the dog,” Joyce explained with a laugh, but at the same time evaded the actual question and then turned the conversation to his party’s rising poll numbers.
The four-legged friend apparently didn’t let up – and Joyce digressed again a short time later by turning to his dog. The journalist remained unimpressed: “Forget the dog, answer the question.” Joyce countered irritably: “Don’t be rude. Otherwise the interview will end here.”
The scene immediately became an internet hit. Meme sites, satirical reports and even Pauline Hanson herself spread the clip. Hanson wrote on Facebook: “You just have to love live TV from home. Poor Barnaby, the dog distracts him while the interview is already hostile.”
At the same time, criticism arose. Animal rights activist and parliamentarian Georgie Purcell complained on social networks that Australians don’t talk to their dogs like that. Other commentators, however, suspected that Joyce could have used the moment to avoid tough questions from the journalist.
However, the politician did not apologize – and rejected the criticism. “People in the country laugh about it. “In the city they think it’s a war crime,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald about his appearance. The dog loved him the next morning, Joyce said.
Joyce and Hanson: Two politicians who divide the country
For Joyce, who likes to appear in a cowboy look, it is not the first time that he has made headlines with dogs: in 2015, as agriculture minister, he threatened to have the dogs of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard put down. Depp and his then-wife were accused of failing to register the dogs with customs when they entered Queensland on a private jet. The Hollywood stars were forced to record an apology video – another viral moment in Joyce’s career.
Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson are two of the most colorful and controversial figures in Australian politics. Joyce was once deputy prime minister and was long active in the conservative Nationals. He had to resign from his position as deputy prime minister in 2018 due to a series of affairs in his private life. In 2025 he officially switched to One Nation.
The politician justified the decision, among other things, with overlaps in issues such as energy policy and migration as well as his desire to position himself clearly against the major parties. Pauline Hanson has shaped the party for decades with anti-migration and nationalist tones and is an irritant for many Australians, while for others she is seen as a voice of protest against the political establishment.
In current polls, the party is ahead of the ruling Labor Party of Anthony Albanese for the first time with around 30 to 31 percent, which has slipped to around 26 to 28 percent. The conservative coalition of Liberals and Nationals only has around 17 to 21 percent. For the first time in Australia’s history, the right-wing party is ahead of all other parties in the so-called “primary vote”. However, in the crucial two-party system, when the preferences of other parties are distributed, Labor is still just ahead of One Nation at 51 percent to 49 percent.