Barnaby Joyce doesn't believe there is any issue with a boss sleeping with their employee.
The Nationals MP, who famously had an affair with his former staff member Vikki Campion, cited George Orwell's 1984 as he defended bosses being able to have a sexual relationship with their employees, saying the 'state' should not be in charge of people's feelings.
"I believe in the freedom of the individual to do as their heart desires," Barnaby began.
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"But human beings being what human beings are, the moment someone says, 'No, I'm not interested - don't do that,' that's it. That's where it stops."
As Barnaby and Jane Caro traded verbal slights, Joyce asked why it was the responsibility of the boss to disclose such a relationship.
"What about the woman's right to say whether she wants it disclosed or not? We seem to have completely ignored that bit," he told the panel.
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Caro replied: "If the boss is a boss and is employed in that position, they have a duty of care to their staff. So, they actually have a responsibility both to the people they employ, and to the people who employ them. That is their job!"
"As an employee, in an affair with her boss, he has the duty of care to his employer and his employees. It needs to be disclosed.
"The problem with that is freedom is really hard to have if the power between the two people who are in the relationship is not equal."
Barnaby Joyce's current partner, Vikki Campion, had been working as a staffer for Joyce during his time as Deputy PM when the pair reportedly formed a relationship, leading Campion to fall pregnant with his child in 2018.
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As the scandal broke, Barnaby left his wife, Natalie - with whom he shares four daughters with - for Campion, with the pair still a couple and sharing two young sons.
Obviously, these types of rules are at the discretion of each employer or the company, however there are very laws that are in place when a person is in a specific position of power.
Featured Image Credit: ABC