Barnaby Joyce has reignited his long-running feud with Amber Heard over the dog-smuggling saga and his threat to put down her two dogs, Pistol and Boo.
The doggie debacle quietly ended this week after Australian authorities dropped their prosecution against the Hollywood actress.
“The department collaborated with agencies, both in Australia and overseas, to investigate these claims against Ms Heard,” the department said in a statement.
“A brief of evidence was referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, who has made the decision not to prosecute in this instance having applied the prosecution policy of the Commonwealth.”
But the explanation left her one-time foe, Mr Joyce, scratching his head.
“Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were part of a process where false (statutory declarations) were signed,” he told NCA NewsWire.
“This was a crime committed in Australia without a shadow of a doubt. The dogs weren’t a figment of our imagination. They were really there.
“That really is how a disease such as rabies comes into Australia.”
Heard had been the subject of an investigation after she smuggled the two yorkshire terriers into the country in May 2015 without declaring them.
It prompted a national scandal after then agriculture minister Mr Joyce threatened to have the dog’s euthanised if Heard and Depp didn’t “bugger off” back to the US.
Heard ultimately escaped conviction, instead paying a fine for the breach in 2016.
Alongside Depp, she took part in a weird video apology where she lauded Australia’s biosecurity laws and apologised for the breach.
It was mocked for being likened to a “hostage” video or “proof-of-life” clip.
But Department of Agriculture authorities reopened an investigation into Heard over allegations of perjury following developments in Depp’s 2020 libel case against The Sun newspaper.
It was alleged Heard had lied about being aware of Australia’s strict quarantine regulations.
Last year, Mr Joyce said it “annoyed (him) a bit” that Australian authorities wouldn’t extradite Heard over the perjury claims.
On Wednesday, he questioned why Heard’s case was dropped but the US was still pursuing Julian Assange.
“Isn‘t it funny how on other issues, such as Julian Assange – who I don’t personally support but on the process – he never committed a crime in the US. Never committed a crime in Australia,” Mr Joyce said.
“But the Americans emphatically want him to be deported to the United States from a third country. I don‘t know.
“Is there a quid pro quo in this? I don‘t know.”
Heard and Mr Joyce are no strangers to trading barbs over the biosecurity saga. Two years ago, the actress taunted the politician by naming her new dog Barnaby Joyce.