Australian Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce looks at Australian beef as he visits at a supermarket to promote Australian products in Tokyo on Nov 16, 2015. (Reuters photo)SYDNEY: A major rift opened up in Australia's fragile ruling coalition on Friday as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce refused to quit over an affair with a staff member, and derided Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's condemnation of his behaviour as "inept". The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are at war with each other. Malcolm Turnbull must sack the Deputy Prime Minister from the Cabinet," said Bill Shorten, leader of Australia's main opposition Labor Party. Unlike the US rules, the Australian rules currently only relate to cabinet ministers and their direct subordinates, leading to criticism of the changes.

Source: Bangkok Post February 16, 2018 05:03 UTC