Joyce wins award for Depp dog drama

He was given a less than flattering assessment by Hollywood star Johnny Depp but now Barnaby Joyce has been rewarded for standing tough against the actor's dogs.

The agriculture minister, who Depp described as a "sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia", has picked up the Principled Decision-Making Froggatt award.

The honour was bestowed on him for "acting quickly and decisively" against Depp and wife Amber Heard's yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, which were brought into Australia in breach of the country's quarantine laws.

The Invasive Species Council's CEO Andrew Cox said it might have seemed like a bit of a joke at the time, but Mr Joyce did the right thing.

"Standing up to Johnny Depp was not enough to earn a Froggatt on its own, but Minister Joyce's award was guaranteed when he decided this month to implement new controls to limit marine biofouling on vessels arriving in Australia," he said in a statement.

The awards are named after Walter Froggatt, who raised concerns with the federal government about the release of the cane toad in the 1930s to control beetle infestations.

Ms Heard is facing two counts of breaching quarantine laws and has been ordered to stand trial in April.