Vikki Campion’s warning: Mess with Barnaby and meet your match

You can’t have two people in politics who have kids. Who looks after my children?

Why has Vikki Campion suddenly reappeared in public life in support of her husband? She has launched her own Substack this week in addition to her writing for the Daily Telegraph and occasional media appearances.

She tells me she was previously unable to use social media before as a Coalition staffer.

They did the interview deliberately. Vikki tells me:

Barnaby’s doing you a favour by finding some power, getting the internet access, it’s freezing cold. It’s the first time we’ve managed to connect the shed to the internet successfully. We have no dedicated office, no epic studio. This is the best we can do. There’s no shirking, he shows up.

Vikki is not asking for special treatment. She is asking for the most basic recognition that a farm is not a studio, a working dog is not a prop, and rural Australia does not run on the same clock or the same assumptions as the inner city.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

One Nation’s heroine of the week is not Hanson, but Barnaby Joyce’s dog, Stella. That canine disciplining, in the middle of a 7.30 interview with the humourless Sarah Ferguson became a talking point for days, completely distracting attention from the controversial aspects of Hanson’s fortnight in the UK and Sicily. The haters hate it, and even question whether Stella was even there. But Michael de Percy got the real truth from Barnaby’s missus, Vicki Campion, and you can read it here.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Following the Stella!!! dog incident with Barnaby Joyce, One Nation has released merchandise – for your dog – I shit you not. Anyway… Hyper-commercialisation is the real infiltration of American politics into Australia. Anyway, our Canberra Correspondent Michael de Percy interviewed Vikki Campion about what she thought of the whole saga.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Vikki Campion’s warning: Mess with Barnaby and meet your match.

Vikki Campion is not asking for special treatment.

She is asking for the most basic recognition that a farm is not a studio, a working dog is not a prop, and rural Australia does not run on the same clock or the same assumptions as the inner city.

Article |… pic.twitter.com/pZg3pmh8aP

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) July 22, 2026

What if small businesses went on strike against Labor?

Small businesses are hurting (and closing) under Labor’s federal and state policies

Labor’s wealth redistribution and bracket creep realities are one result of the federal stage 3 tax cuts adjustments and reversals and fiscal settings that have led to bracket creep.

These effects, amid persistent inflation, are squeezing small business owners and their ability to retain staff or invest in future capabilities. Small businesses face higher effective burdens without the scale of larger firms. Yet they are carrying a proportionately higher regulatory burden.

ASIC has reported record revenue of some $830 million in fines. The NSW government is riding high on the back of increased revenue from fines including small businesses. This is set to continue.

Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Michael de Percy is right. Small businesses can’t thrive under federal Labor’s anti-private enterprise and high-taxing regime, let alone state Labor’s payroll and other job-killing taxes. And that’s not including onerous government-mandated paperwork and compliance. But speaking as a self-employed small business type, the costs of going ‘on strike’ against Labor’s incessant demands on my bottom line is having the Australian Taxation Office out to crush both me, and my ability to put food on the table for my family and keep the lights on. How I’d love to tell the ATO to get knotted, but they know they have me, and hundreds of thousands like me, by the short and curlies.

 My latest in The Spectator Australia, What if small businesses went on strike against Labor?

The Left are always on strike when they want something from Labor.

But what about Australia's small businesses?

The forgotten community, with no bargaining power, that employ nearly half the private workforce?

The small businesses that are suffering the worst financial burden… pic.twitter.com/G2CiLGqFZs

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) July 21, 2026

One Nation polling proves ‘The Establishment’ can’t be trusted

The Establishment presents itself as the calm, serious voice of reason in politics and society. But, nuh!

The Establishment presents itself as the calm, serious voice of reason in politics and society.

You hear it most clearly when the Prime Minister says Pauline Hanson should not ‘talk Australia down’ when overseas.

Life at Copacabana must be quite pleasant. Here in regional Australia, businesses are collapsing, people are struggling, and nobody is saying, ‘How great is Albo’s Australia!’

Yet the media’s focus is all on One Nation. It reminds me of most of the stuff coming out of universities these days.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Michael de Percy looked at the polls and said … The Establishment can’t be trusted! That’s because after a solid week of wall-to-wall screeching, One Nation has emerged with barely a dent.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy heads in a similar direction to James Allan, except he’s concluded the battle of ideas is over already, and One Nation has won it. In his view, the Establishment is trying to bring Hanson and One Nation down because they can’t recover their dominance any other way. Ironically, Hanson herself has been around politics so long that it could be said that she, herself, is part of the Establishment, or at least the political class associated with it. She knows how the system works, and plays the game accordingly.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, One Nation polling proves ‘The Establishment’ can’t be trusted.

The attacks against One Nation keep coming ... but polling suggests it's having little impact on public opinion.

There are still many dimensions where One Nation needs to mature in its preparation for government, but I think most people have had enough of the present state of… pic.twitter.com/8zcp66jXCJ

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) July 20, 2026