Well folks, it turns out Malcolm Turnbull isn’t actually a champagne-quaffing Point Piper blue-blood elitist. He’s actually a rough-and-tumble working class man of the people. We know this, because he isn’t a fan of Mike Baird‘s greyhound ban.
The Australian reports that Turnbull criticised the decision of the New South Wales Government at a private dinner in Perth, expressing “surprise and concern” at what he believes was a disproportionate response.
“He was critical of the decision and the message was, ‘If we are shutting down an industry on the basis of what happens to rabbits, well, we are not very nice to rabbits in this country; they are a pest’,” reported one MP. I’m glad that the culture of leaking in the Liberal Party is so widespread that Turnbull can’t even sledge rabbits without it hitting the national press.
The crux of Turnbull’s take was that we consider rabbits a pest when they pop up on farms – et tu, Peter Rabbit? – so we shouldn’t be concerned that we’re using ’em to bait greyhounds.
Another MP confirmed that most of the Coalition party room at a Federal level are a bit baffled by the ban, and are glad that Turnbull “gets it”.
This probably won’t eventuate in anything concrete, obviously – the ban has passed the NSW Parliament, and Baird is moving towards implementation. But now we know. Turnbull bloody loves the dishlickers.
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Getty Images / Jason McCawley.
