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The Best Of Barnaby's Backers: Depp A 'Limp Lettuce In Make-Up'

In defence of Barnaby Joyce and his Pistol and Boo attack.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has some staunch supporters this week.
Fairfax
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has some staunch supporters this week.

It's been a big week for Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, and it's only Thursday.

After being told he looks like he was "inbred with a tomato", Joyce has been slammed for comments linking the Gillard Government's cessation of the live cattle export to a rise in asylum seekers arriving by boats.

We'll get to those comments later, but first to the feud the country thought we'd seen the last of...

After delivering an apology video following the quarantine controversy of Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo, Johnny Depp took a swipe at Joyce on U.S talk show Jimmy Kimmel this week, saying the Deputy Prime Minister looked like he was "inbred with a tomato".

And Mary Walker of Bunderberg is irate (actually, even that is an understatement).

The Queenslander chased a Channel Seven news crew down a street to express her fury over the comments and distaste for the Pirates of the Caribbean star, calling Depp a "limp lettuce in make-up".

Check out Walkers' two-cents on the feud here:

Walker stood by the Deputy Prime Minister and his tenacious defence of the nation's biosecurity laws, shouting "Go, Go Mr Barnaby".

"I'm happy to have a yummy tomato and not a limp lettuce in makeup," Walker said.

Other defences of the Deputy PM include a cartoon from The Age on Thursday, fact checking Depp's suggestion against other fruit and vegetable options before concluding all avenues "misleading" and "probably wrong".

Dyson cartoon; re Johnny Depp, Barnaby Joyce, inbred with a tomato etc, Age Letters 26 May 2016
Fairfax
Dyson cartoon; re Johnny Depp, Barnaby Joyce, inbred with a tomato etc, Age Letters 26 May 2016

And as Joyce stood side by side with the Prime Minister on Thursday morning -- committing $130 million to water infrastructure in Queensland's Rockhampton -- a number of MPs from the Coalition, including Malcolm Turnbull, defended his comments linking the Gillard Government's ban on live exports to increased asylum seeker boat arrivals in 2011.

Turnbull said he counts the Indonesian President Joko Widodo as "a good friend and leader" and believes the Government's relationship with Indonesia has "never been better".

"Let me be quite clear about this: there is no link between the Indonesian government and people smuggling," Mr Turnbull said.

"What we have had to do is recover a lot of damage that was done to our relations by the Labor government when they precipitously and suddenly stopped live cattle exports to Indonesia. That did enormous damage to the cattle industry across Australia, but it was an incredible affront to Indonesia."

Treasurer Scott Morrison also doesn't accept Joyce made a link between the two while Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg was quick to back the Deputy Prime Minister.

"What he's made clear is that [the ban on] live animal exports ... was a disaster and, at the same time, we were seeking greater cooperation with Indonesia on the very difficult diplomatic and strategic issue of border protection," Frydenberg said on Sky News.

As news reports surface on Thursday claiming Amber Heard has filed for divorce with Depp, journalists asked for Joyce's thoughts on the reported split.

"In all seriousness, the one thing I will never revel in is any relationship breakdown, no matter what animosity that might be seen on the air waves between Mr Depp and myself," Joyce replied on Thursday morning.

"I have always hoped and wished the very best for people. No I would never ever revel in something like that."

Hopefully that comment marks the end of a bitter feud Pistol and Boo probably want no part in anymore.

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