Let’s paint a picture.  A senior politician has made out with his pretty young female staff member. She’s now pregnant with his child.

The elegant wife and four daughters stand on the sidelines of this drama-filled soap opera while the country passes judgement.

I have most certainly passed judgement and have cast Barnaby Joyce as a balding, middle-aged philanderer.   

And as for his young lover, well in my mind she has no respect for what marriage stands for and has acted with no regard for the family now shattered into pieces.  

I have cast the beautiful wife as the victim.  

Every photo you see of Mrs Joyce, she is smiling and loyally standing by her husband. She looks the epitome of the loving mother and wife.

Myself as a mother and a wife, I find Barnaby Joyce and his girlfriend’s actions deplorable. 

And how have I come to this conclusion? By believing what I hear – and that’s a very dangerous place from which to form such a strong opinion.

I do not know Barnaby Joyce. I have never met him.  All I know about him is that he amuses me with his straight-talking manner.  

I have not appreciated his stand on some issues but love it every time he opens his mouth with that strong Aussie accent and no-nonsense talk that often gets him in trouble.

I do not know his girlfriend. I know absolutely nothing about her whatsoever. Is she a serial marriage-wrecker or is she a lovely young lady who has made a mistake and is now drowning in horror over the fall out?

And as for Mrs Joyce, I don’t know her either. She looks like a lovely lady but whether she is or not – I have no idea.  

I have assumed she has been the wind beneath her husband’s wings for decades, but has she?? I don’t know and neither does the rest of the country.

How easy it is to stand back and throw mud at those we think have done wrong and put on a pedestal those we can relate to as a victim without any real knowledge of a situation.

If Barnaby Joyce has done the wrong thing with this lady in relation to the misuse of our taxpayer dollars then he must face the consequences of that.

But outside of any possible misconduct, I wonder if we should all just butt out.

For all we know, there could be incredible pain being felt across the board. 

The only thing any of us can know for sure, without reading or listening to what could be gossip, is that a little baby – the only completely innocent being in this entire scenario – is going to be born.  

One can only hope the worst of the storm will have passed before this happens.