Amber Heard has accused Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce of seeking his 15 minutes of fame when he threatened to have her and husband Johnny Depp’s pet dogs put down.

Heard and Depp ran intro trouble with the Australian government when they illegally brought their dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia without declaring them, breaking quarantine laws.

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Joyce said the dogs would have to be exterminated if they weren’t immediately removed, telling media: “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”

Heard was forced to fly the dogs back to the United States.

Now, in interviews promoting her new movie Magic Mike XXL, she has slammed Joyce for his fame-seeking ways.

“I have a feeling we’re going to avoid the land Down Under from now on, just as much as we can, thanks to certain politicians there,” Heard said in an interview with Channel Seven’s Sunrise.

“I don’t know, I guess everyone tries to go for their 15 minutes, including some government officials.”

Johnny Depp’s Yorkshire terriers Boo and Pistol were flown back to the United States a few days after Barnaby Joyce’s ultimatum.

In a second interview with America’s Entertainment Tonight, she went even further, referring to “certain” Aussie government officials as “thugs”.

“They [the dogs] are good despite attempts by certain rogue, thug Australian government officials. They are alright,” she said.

When asked about the media furore surrounding the dogs, Heard called the reaction “amazing”.

“I cannot believe … it’s a sad state of affairs that that made such headline global news,” she said.

The 29-year-old actress, who said she brings the dogs with her wherever she goes, was visiting her husband on the Gold Coast set of his movie, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, when the scandal erupted.

“My little Yorkies are with me, they’re fine,” she reassured her interviewer. “I bring Pistol everywhere I go.”