A prominent Australian lawmaker from the far-right One Nation party, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, made headlines on Monday night, July 21, 2026, after interrupting a live interview on the national broadcaster ABC to command a misbehaving dog to "Sit down!".

The incident occurred during a one-on-one interview when Joyce suddenly shrieked the command at the dog. Apologizing to the journalist, he said, "Sorry, it’s the dog."

The dog continued to disrupt the proceedings, leading Joyce to further apologize, explaining, "I do apologise for this dog, it’s just started to bail up."

Journalist Sarah Ferguson, who was interviewing Joyce about his party leader Pauline Hanson’s recent meeting with far-right British figurehead Tommy Robinson, responded, "Don’t worry about the dog, just answer the question."

The exchange drew attention to the unexpected interruption during a political interview on Australian television.

Sources

South China Morning Post World (Agence France-Presse)