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Australia's deputy PM threatens Johnny Depp with 'perjury' in latest salvo of the 'War on Terrier'

Actor Johnny Depp and wife Amber Heard arrive at the Southport Magistrates Court on Australia's Gold Coast in April last year - Reuters
Actor Johnny Depp and wife Amber Heard arrive at the Southport Magistrates Court on Australia's Gold Coast in April last year - Reuters

Australia's deputy prime minister has reignited his two-year feud with Johnny Depp, warning the Hollywood actor could be investigated for perjury.

Barnaby Joyce, who has traded barbs with the US star ever since he illegally brought his two dogs, Pistol and Boo, into the country, was responding to reports that Depp pressured one of his staff members to "take the fall" for his actions.

The accusation was made by Depp's former business managers, who are currently locked in a bitter legal battle with the actor. 

In the latest documents filed to the court and obtained by People magazine, The Management Group (TMG) reportedly claimed the actor was "fully aware that he was illegally bringing his dogs to Australia" in May 2015. 

US actor Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard arrive at a court in the Gold Coast in April 2016 - Credit: AFP
US actor Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard arrive at a court in the Gold Coast in April 2016 Credit: AFP

"Depp falsely claimed to authorities and in public press interviews that the incident was a big misunderstanding because he supposedly believed his staff had obtained the necessary paperwork," they said.

TMG also claimed that when Australian authorities challenged Depp about the dogs, he "pressured one of his long-term employees to 'take the fall'."

Depp never faced charges but his then wife Amber Heard paid a $1,000 fine last year after she pleaded guilty in Australia to a charge of falsifying documents over the alleged illegal importation  of her two pet Yorkshire terriers into the country aboard a private jet in 2015.

When asked about the claims on Tuesday, Mr Joyce told ABC: “If the allegation is correct, there is a word for that – it is called perjury. That is another question that, if that was true, Mr Depp would have to answer for.

The steady decline of Johnny Depp
The steady decline of Johnny Depp

“It doesn’t matter if you think that you’re Mr Who’s Who of Hollywood, you’re going to obey our laws.”

Mr Joyce also told News Corp: “If the allegations that have been made against him are correct, and I’m not saying if they are or aren’t, then that would be perjury.”

Depp, 54, has sued The Management Group (TMG) claiming they had cost him tens of millions of dollars and they retaliated with a suit saying they had repeatedly warned him about his excessive spending.

When the row over Depp's dogs  - dubbed the War on terrier - first broke in 2015, Mr Joyce, the then agriculture minister, had warned that the dogs would be killed or exported if they were not removed, declaring that "it's time that Pistol and Boo b------- off back to the United States".

After Depp apologised last year for breaking the country's strict quarantine laws in a video that went viral, Mr Joyce took another dig at Depp. "I don't think he'll get an academy award for his performance... he looked like he was auditioning for the Godfather," he said. 

Depp hit back by describing Mr Joyce as someone who "looks somehow like inbred with a tomato", prompting the politician to joke: "I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter, I'm inside his head, I'm pulling strings and levers."

Lawyers have played down the chances of a perjury case.

Michael Cope, a prominent Brisbane solicitor, told the Guardian: “It wouldn’t be perjury.

“He didn’t get charged at all and if he’s not said anything to anybody, either in a courtroom or filling in a form where he’s provided a statutory declaration, or similar document, then I don’t see where he’s committed any offence."