Australians were dumbfounded on Australia Day when Tony Abbott announce Prince Philip would be receiving one of the two knighthoods on offer. When asked who he had consulted before making the decision, he fell back on his favourite metaphor: “It was a captain’s pick.” (Of course, Tony Abbott is captain of Team Australia.)
Just days later the Prime Minister faced questions about his leadership. He was asked why Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull ranked above him in polls as preferred prime minister.
Abbott replied, “I’m really thrilled that I have got such good strong colleagues. I mean this is a very strong team, it’s a very strong team and one of the reasons why so many members of the team are able to perform so well is because they’ve got a very good captain.” (My emphasis.)
This gave Bill Shorten an opening for one of the zingers he’s now infamous for. They’re always groaners, and he’s been the butt of many send-ups by comedians. But it seems he’s changed his script writers, because this one is actually quite amusing:
“Frankly the captain of the Titanic would look good standing next to Tony Abbott.”
Here are some of Bill’s earlier zingers as seen by Shaun Micallef:
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