Thursday 7 July 2022 04:45 AM Barnaby Joyce calls for Amber Heard to be jailed if she is found to have ... trends now

Australian politician Barnaby Joyce has called for Amber Heard to be jailed if she is found to have committed perjury during her 2015 dog-smuggling furore.

The 36-year-old actress, who last month lost a high-profile defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, is the subject of an ongoing perjury investigation related to court proceedings stemming from her visit to Queensland with Depp in 2015, when she broke Australia's strict quarantine and biosecurity laws by failing to declare the couple's Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, upon her arrival in the country.

At the time, then-agricultural minister Joyce insisted the dogs be put down if they were not sent back to the United States immediately.

Heard was charged with two counts of illegally importing the animals in July 2015; however, the case was closed when she pleaded guilty to falsifying travel documents in a Gold Coast court in April 2016.

But the dog-smuggling saga was given new life in October 2021 when it was exclusively revealed by DailyMail.com that Australian officials were investigating Heard for alleged perjury over claims she lied to authorities about the circumstances in which her dogs were brought into the country. 

The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment last week confirmed the case was 'ongoing', telling Daily Mail Australia it was still 'investigating allegations of perjury by Ms Heard during court proceedings for the 2015 illegal importation of [her] two dogs into Australia'.

Joyce had little sympathy for Heard while discussing the alleged perjury investigation on Australian breakfast show Sunrise on Thursday. 

'Those dogs, when they came in, there were a lot of documents that were signed that said there were no animals there. And it now looks like Ms Heard has allegedly not told the truth,' he said.

Joyce joked that Australia was entitled to have Heard extradited because the U.S. is seeking the extradition from England of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is an Australian citizen, on spying charges.

'[The U.S.] wants Julian Assange... [She] can come over to Australia and possibly spend some time at Her Majesty's convenience,' Joyce said.

Perjury carries a maximum jail term of 14 years in Australia.

When asked what would likely happen to Heard if she were to be found guilty of perjury, Joyce replied: 'It's up to the Americans. I suppose the U.S. want to show the purity of it and they're insisting on getting Julian Assange.

'So [the U.S.] should say, "We have got to be fair dinkum and straight with both these things, don't we?" Let's see how that goes.'

It's unlikely the Australian government would try to have Heard extradited, but she could nonetheless face arrest if she tried to enter the country again.

All of the witnesses involved in the case 'live overseas'.

Joyce later joked he would look after Heard's dog, which she famously named after him after adopting the animal in December, if she were imprisoned in Australia.

'Send it up here and we'll go pigging with it, see if we can knock over a few old boars... I'll look after it, my namesake Barnaby, he'll be safe with me', he chuckled. 

Pigging refers to the act of hunting wild pigs.

When asked what he thought of the Depp vs. Heard defamation trial in Virginia, Joyce replied: 'It was great... it was compulsory train-wreck viewing.' 

'Each night you thought, "These are two crazy cats and, obviously, don't mind having a drink at night, and they're just tearing the house to pieces and throwing crap at each other." It was just bizarre. 

Meanwhile, Australian authorities could seek assistance from the FBI as they investigate claims Heard allegedly perjured herself in a Queensland court six years ago.