Few things in this pissy little life bring more joy than viewing some bloviating fuckwit being told to sit down. When it’s the Prime Minister of the country – a man who I deeply suspect has to have has index finger rescued from the knot of his tie at least once a day – all the better. And if you’re in this article chasing this particular dragon, relief is at hand: Scott Morrison has, on the floor of Parliament, been read some form of the riot act by an incredibly fed-up Speaker of the House.
Question Time is in full swing this afternoon, and with it the usual array of shouting, obfuscating, and skirting the point.
While that’s usually the apparent point of QT, speaker Tony Smith has apparently burned his fuse to the nub, and let loose on Morrison during a particularly testy exchange.
In response to a rather tepid question from Labor leader Anthony Albanese – “how many more outbreaks do there have to be until the Prime Minister understands that he needs to do his job and deliver a safe, national, purpose-built quarantine system, and fix his bungled vaccine rollout?” – Morrison launched a tirade high on bluster but low on actual substance.
“Well there you see it, Mr Speaker, the bipartisan display in the fight against the virus, Mr Speaker,” Morrison began. “That’s what we’ve seen from the Labor Party all the way through this, Mr Speaker. On every opportunity when they’re tested, Mr Speaker, they’d rather fight the Liberal Party; fighting those Tories, Mr Speaker, which is the reason why the leader of the Labor Party came here – he didn’t come here to work together to get solutions, he just came here to fight and fight the Tories, Mr Speaker. Fighting the Tories isn’t gonna fight the virus, Mr Speaker. That’s what this Government’s doing. That’s what this Government’s doing. And under this Government, Mr Speaker, working with the states and territories, 30,000 deaths have been avoided.”
For the record, the amount of times Morrison said “Mr Speaker” in a little under 40 seconds? 8. 8 times in 40 seconds.
Smith, apparently, had had enough of all of this.
Following an interjection from Labor MP Tony Burke who asserted that what Morrison said “was neither relevant nor is it true,” Smith gave it both barrels in an exchange that went thusly:
SMITH: “I’m asking you to return to the question.”
MORRISON: “Happy to do that, Mr Speaker.”
SMITH: “I don’t care whether you’re happy or not, you need to return to the question.”
Bask in the footage of it, would ya.
Good to see the speaker sternly putting @ScottMorrisonMP in his place in Question Time just now. Watch this: pic.twitter.com/XAf3A83tBb
— Stephen Mayne (@MayneReport) May 26, 2021
Important to note here that Tony Smith just-so-happens to be a Liberal Party MP.
So that’s a Liberal MP, chastising a Liberal Prime Minister.
Rich in nutritional value, all of this. Very filling.
