Joyce barks back at criticism of him shouting at dog Stella on live TV

OpinionCBD columnistJuly 21, 2026 — 1:28pmOne Nation’s star recruit Barnaby Joyce‘s appearance on the ABC’s flagship 7.30 program may have been an attempt to mop up some of the mess left behind by Pauline Hanson’s comments on the podcast of far-right freak show Tommy Robinson late last week.On it, Hanson claimed Australia’s immigration problems began when the Whitlam government “opened up and got rid of the White Australian [sic] policy”. But it wasn’t Joyce’s clean-up job that sparked headlines. Instead, it was a mid-interview outburst at his dog.Well, we’re pleased to report the dog still loves him, at least according to its owner. When reached on Tuesday morning, Joyce said the Staffy-Border Collie Cross, Stella, is “only young” and a farm dog. He said the backlash to his outburst, which has drawn criticism from the Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, highlighted the “regional-city divide”.“People in the regions laugh about it,” Joyce told CBD. “People in the inner city think it’s a war crime.“It just came under the deck while Sarah Ferguson was giving me a grilling. I tried [to go on] for a while, hoping it would stop. I was missing Sarah’s questions. The dog loved me in the morning. I don’t know if the same can be said about Sarah.”We’re still waiting for a photo of Stella. But Hanson seemed amused by what she saw on Monday night, when speaking with reporters in Perth on Tuesday. “I laughed. It’s funny. That’s Barnaby. This is why I love the people around me. We’re just human,” Hanson said. “He told the dog shut up. So what is your problem with that?”The One Nation leader was less forthcoming on how her now famous trip to Europe with billionaire Gina Rinehart was funded last week. Of course, Hanson was pictured poolside at a luxury Italian resort with Rinehart, in photos first published by The Australian Financial Review, while Rinehart was having a little dip. In the days since, it’s been crickets on how the trip was funded.“It didn’t cost the taxpayer one cent for my trip overseas - not one cent,” Hanson said, still seemingly reluctant to disclose how the jaunt was paid for, before turning to the Cirrus G7 plane that Rinehart donated to the party earlier this year. “I did get the plane from her. You know what I did? I declared it.”John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners