Extremely outspoken at the best of times, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has decided to throw her bottomless hat of opinions into the ring again today, this time weighing in on comments made by Tony Abbott late yesterday in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s attendance at the upcoming G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane.
You might remember that yesterday Prime Minister Abbott stated that he was going to “shirtfront” President Putin over Putin’s perceived non-cooperation with regards to the ongoing investigation into the downed civilian flight MH17 – allegedly perpetrated by Russian-backed rebels stationed in a disputed region of Eastern Ukraine. Now today Lambie, the Palmer United Party senator from the Apple Isle, has not only come out and stated that Abbott should just bloody well cool his jets, but has heaped praise onto Vladimir Putin at the same time.
Speaking to ABC Radio earlier today, Lambie stated, “Vladimir Putin did not pull the trigger. If Putin had had a choice, Putin would have made sure that didn’t happen,” at which point internationally renowned superhero Captain Obvious landed on the roof of the radio station and made the universal hand gesture for “Derr.”
But going further, Lambie professed a certain fondness for the oft-shirtless ruler of Russia, stating that she admired his “strong leadership” and “great values.”
“He’s certainly doing his bit to stamp out terrorism and you know, I guess you’ve got to pay the man for that.”
At that point, the political crosshairs shifted swiftly towards both Prime Minister Abbott and the opposition leader Bill Shorten, who she accused of acting like hyped-up schoolboys when it came to addressing President Putin. She stated that comments made by the pair were “extremely immature,” and that they were behaving like “hormone-affected schoolboys trying to out-macho each other on the footy field.”
“The PM is no longer in the school yard. I would suggest the PM start acting like a PM and extend the olive branch out.“
A point that, given the G20 voted in consensus to allow Russia to attend the upcoming summit – despite Australia’s attempts to prevent them from doing so – seems actually somewhat rational? That can’t be just me, right?
This continues the Palmer United Party’s running trend of balancing out political points that make a scary amount of sense with decisions and announcements that perform the kind of mental ballet that they name desserts after.
For now, we sit atop this particular lofty see-saw, awaiting the inevitable downforce that will pull us all back to earth.
Photo: Stefan Postles via Getty Images.
via ABC News and The Guardian.
