Latest news with #Trumpet
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
New England Aquarium celebrates Atlantic harbor seals' 40th birthdays
'At any time of day or night, you can see visitors walking by the exhibit to see what the harbor seals are up to,' she said in the statement. A small crowd gathered at the open-air exhibit outside the Aquarium entrance as trainers led games and demonstrations with the birthday pair. The seals' birthday cake didn't have frosting or candles—instead, it was made of ice jello and fish, according to the Aquarium. New England Aquarium Advertisement Although both seals marked the occasion together, the celebration officially honored Amelia's birthday; she was born at the Aquarium on May 28, 1985. Amelia, who lost one eye to chronic corneal inflammation, enjoys 'bottling' — floating upright with her nose above water — and in sleeping in odd positions, according to the statement. Born just over a week after her half-sister, on June 7, Trumpet is now a mother of two and likes to Both seals are offspring of Hoover, the Aquarium's famed 'talking harbor seal' that could mimic phrases such as 'Hello there' and 'How are you?' Though Hoover has died, one of Trumpet's pups, Chacoda, is beginning to learn a few words, according to the Aquarium's Advertisement The Aquarium also thanked its staff for their support for Amelia and Trumpet. 'Their longevity is a true testament to the New England Aquarium's commitment to prioritizing the highest level of animal wellbeing and veterinary care, along with our staff's dedication to the animals,' said Kristen McMahon, the Aquarium's curator of Pinnipeds and Penguins, in the statement. Staff created birthday cards for the seals, and guests were also invited to sign a large poster, the Aquarium said. New England Aquarium Rita Chandler can be reached at
The Australian
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Australian
Australian values, ineffective Coalition central to election win
On Saturday, Australians comprehensively rejected every single aspect of the Coalition's attempt to win government. The Coalition parties didn't just shoot themselves in one foot, they shot themselves in both feet, arms and torso – it was a total bloodbath. In what will now be known as the worst election campaign in Australian history, the Coalition failed to sell a single policy to Australians and paid the ultimate price. In Victoria, seats heavily targeted by the Liberals, including Aston, Deakin, Menzies and McEwen, all went to Labor – some dramatically, particularly the loss of Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who was one of the party's best backbenchers. He is someone I have high respect for and who, I believe, the Liberals could have built a more centrist party around. Kudos must be given to Anthony Albanese and to ALP national secretary Paul Erickson for running a tight ship throughout the whole election. Even when Labor was in the polling doldrums at the end of last year, the Prime Minister stuck to his guns. He had a plan to win seats, not just to hold ground. And he was right. And to my former colleagues in the Labor caucus, they maintained their iron discipline they have exhibited since May 2022. Australians also outright rejected the feral scaremongering the Greens piled on. The party's projected wipeout in Queensland, and the fact that Greens leader Adam Bandt, a very tough campaigner, is hanging on by a knife's edge in Melbourne, is testament to that. I'm pleased to see the warrior from Wills, Peter Khalil, is hanging on despite the ugliest campaign by the Greens and their far-left allies that I've ever seen. Watching the election from outside the bubble for the first time in nearly 20 years was like an out-of-body experience for me, but as the two campaigns rolled out there was never a doubt in my mind Labor would not win. The cost of living was the key election issue and the Coalition hoped for a grievance election based on an opinion poll of the government. Once Donald Trump's shadow loomed people wanted to know who had the better plan. In my opinion, the moment Peter Dutton flirted with Trump, he completely misread the Australian identity, which instinctively recoils from extremism from the far left and far right. Like our great mates in Canada, Australians voted to reject any semblance of a Trump-esque (or Trumpet) style of government. People wanted a safe option and Labor offered stability writ large. The Coalition did not have a single alternate policy and this was glaringly exposed when it was forced to drop its Trump-style strategy within weeks of the campaign beginning. The cringe-worthy moment Dutton's 'Department of Government Efficiency' elect, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, donned a MAGA cap should have been the moment every newspaper editor in Australia knew the election result was a fait accompli. It was a campaign that exposed how far removed the Coalition is from modern Australia. In what can only be described as the bizarre revival of Soviet economics, the Coalition was going to create a nuclear industry based on government ownership of the means of energy production. This contradicted core free-market values. It didn't just have a hole in its finances, it dug quarries with its own financial recklessness. Rather than reaching out to help Australians battling the cost of living, the Coalition went on the attack. The scare campaign on people who work from home, which is a major factor for women and families, was embarrassingly wrong-footed and chauvinistic. But it also showed that not having to pay for extra tolls and childcare is a strategy families use to help ease cost-of-living pressures and manage mortgage stress. Everyone – from immigrants, Chinese-born Australians, people born after 1981, women and people who have any connection with the public service in this country – was targeted for existing. There was nothing in it for young people to vote for the Coalition – climate change wasn't addressed and there was no help offered to pay off university debts. In fact, to my amazement, the Coalition was going to scrap the $300 prac payments for people studying nursing at the University of Canberra and other universities. The Liberals also have a problem with people who live in metropolitan Australia, which doesn't leave them with a lot of votes left to win. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the party and the Liberals got everything wrong this time round, not just Dutton. He did make a lot of mistakes, but, on a personal note, it's important for him to remember people were voting for Peter Dutton as opposition leader, not Peter Dutton the human being. When he goes home to see his family, he needs to take that armour of opposition leader off and realise that all the slings and arrows coming at him are about what people see in his job, and he can't afford to take it personally. He needs to rebuild and reconstruct himself, and he cannot afford to let his job as opposition leader define the bloke he sees in the mirror, otherwise he'll go crazy. Ultimately, the result shows us that Australia is a centrist country and Labor has no competition in the middle right now. It's in the best interests of the Liberal Party, and Australia, for it to move to the centre. On a final, positive note, as I stood in the queue to vote as an ordinary citizen, I marvelled at the fact that right around Australia 18 million people turned up to vote peacefully, which shows, despite all our moans about politics and politicians, we are doing something right in this country. Bill Shorten was the leader of the Labor Party from 2013 to 2019. He is vice-chancellor and president of the University of Canberra.
News.com.au
05-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Clive Palmer spent about $245 per first preference vote in Trumpet of Patriot's failed election run
Clive Palmer spent about $245 per first preference vote received by the Trumpet of Patriots - with the fringe party failing to pick up a lower house seat despite the billionaire's $60m cash splash. The most recent figures from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal Trumpet of Patriots won a total of 244,095 first preference votes. This was about 1.85 per cent of total first preference votes. Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph he spent about $60m on the campaign with Agdile Media Group estimating Mr Palmer dedicated about $24.1m on television, YouTube, and on-demand platforms. On Sunday he said the 2025 election campaign would be his last political hurrah, telling the publication that 'I'm 71 and I'm getting too old for politics'. 'I'd rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that's why I've donated $5m to Foodbank.' Trumpet's star candidate gets … 3458 votes Following Saturday night's count, Trumpet of Patriot's star candidate and party leader Suellen Wrightson won just 3458 first-preference votes, 3.44 per cent, in her NSW Central Coast seat of Hunter. While she attempted to unseat popular Labor MP and former Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi, the current count has revealed a 5.4 per cent swing to Labor. Despite being described as 'Australia's next Prime Minister' during the campaign, Ms Wrightson received the fourth lowest amount of votes out of the nine-person ballot. In comparison, One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds received 16,405 votes, or about 16.33 per cent of the vote. Following the campaign, Ms Wrightson has also locked her social media channels, including her Facebook and X pages. Voters revolt over Trumpet's text blast The Trumpet of Patriots party has courted controversy since Mr Palmer announced he would be backing the Trump-aligned outfit, voters revolted after they were blanketed with a barrage of unsolicited texts urging them to vote for the party. The text messages contained outlines of the party's key policies, including 'solve housing fast trains 20 Min CBD cheaper land (sic)', 'cut immigration by 80 per cent', and 'double fees for foreign students', plus a link to the Trumpet of Patriots' website. It's Queensland senate candidate Harry Fong became public enemy number one after his name 'H Fong' was used in the authorisation sign-off on the texts. Although the tactic is legal and within the AEC guidelines, enraged internet sleuths found Mr Fong's contact details and began hounding him with texts. During the campaign, Anthony Albanese also said that while he would personally support banning political parties from sending unsolicited election texts, he conceded it could be unconstitutional.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senator's brutal ABC interview as Liberals look for new leader, Barnaby Joyce reveals cancer diagnosis, fisherman's life-saving move
Hello and welcome to Yahoo's live news blog this Monday. The dust is settling after a disastrous election defeat for the Liberals and things are heating up as the party looks for a new leader after Peter Dutton lost his seat. One frontrunner is Angus Taylor, but one Liberal Senator has delivered a damning assessment of his suitability. Clive Palmer says he will be walking away from politics after throwing millions at a failed campaign for the Trumpet of Patriots. He's also addressed the text message drama that left Australians infuriated over the last few weeks. Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has announced he has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery today. Follow along as we bring you regular updates throughout the day. After a disastrous night for the Liberals on Saturday night, the knives are well and truly out. For the second straight federal election, the party lost more senior members who held metropolitan seats, leaving less options, and less talent, to choose from as it picks a new leader. NSW Senator Hollie Hughes admitted 'a complete lack of policy and economic narrative' from her team leading up the election was to blame for their disastrous night. One of the front runners to take over the leadership will no doubt be the shadow treasurer Angus Taylor – but not if Hughes can help it. When asked if he is capable of leading the party on ABC's Radio National this morning, she said: 'Not in my view. 'I have concerns about his capability. 'I don't know what he's been doing for three years?' she continued in a remarkable spray. 'There was no tax policy, no economic narrative.' The pair do have a history, which she alluded to, but the senator said a 'huge number' of her colleagues shared her doubts about his ability to unite and capably lead the party. 'His efforts to get rid of people like me in his leadership ambitions means that I'm still in the party room until June 30 and get to vote for the next leader, so it may not work out too well for him,' she said. As the party licks its wounds, members past and present have lamented how it lost its way. Former Coalition finance minister Simon Birmingham wrote in a blog post on LinkedIn that 'the brand of conservatism projected is clearly perceived as too harsh and out of touch' and that it had lost its sense of classic liberalism. 'Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us: the nasty party.' Clive Palmer has admitted he is now 'too old for politics' following the Trumpet of Patriots failed election campaign. The billionaire spent millions on a mass advertising campaign, however, the minor party failed to pick up a single lower house seat and is looking unlikely to pick up any seats in the Senate. The party only picked up 1.85 per cent of the primary vote, with One Nation outperforming it on 6.17 per cent, the Australian Electoral Commission said. Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that 'he was not really disappointed with the outcome', and said the Trumpet of the Patriots might not return in three years' time. 'I'm 71 and I'm getting too old for politics,' he said. 'I'd rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that's why I've donated $5m to Foodbank.' Voters across the country shared frustration over the party's mass text campaign. The party sent out over 17 million texts and had received over 10,000 complaints as a result, he said. However, Mr Cliver said he didn't believe it impacted their results. 'Ten thousand is pretty minimal compared to 17 million and the people who were complaining were not going to vote for us anyway,' he said. Read more from NCA NewsWire here. So who are the favourites to be the Liberals' next leader? Well if the bookmakers are anything to go by, it's a four-horse race. Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie is the favourite, according to Sportsbet. He is the youngest of the four at 42 and reservations have been raised of his experience, meaning it may be his time comes later on. He's ahead of Angus Taylor, who has come in for a fair bit of criticism from within the party after fronting the economic policy during what was repeatedly dubbed the cost-of-living election. Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan is next up after holding several key portfolios in the Morrison government. And finally Sussan Ley, the Liberal's deputy leader. Senator Hollie Hughes told the ABC this morning she believes having a female in the top spot could help "change the narrative around the party". Police in Sydney say one decision from a fisherman who was washed into the ocean on Sundaymost likely saved his life. With authorities across Australia increasingly concerned about the choices of anglers near rough waters, police in Sydney's Sutherland Shire hailed one key safety measure one man decided on before he was swept off rocks near Kurnell and swept 200 metre off shore. "Fortunately the angler was wearing a life jacket," police said. "This incident highlights the unpredictable nature of the ocean and the need to remain vigilant around it. Also, the fact that wearing a life jacket when in and around the ocean can save your life." The man was pulled from the ocean after about 10 minutes by NSW Water Police and was taken to hospital for further assessments. Federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has been praised for being "very brave" after revealing he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer. The one-time deputy prime minister, who comfortably won his regional NSW seat of New England in Saturday's election, revealed his diagnosis on Sunday. Joyce, 58, received the diagnosis following a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. The test came back with an elevated result and a subsequent MRI and biopsy revealed he had prostate cancer. Joyce, who will have the surgery on Monday, told Seven's Sunrise program he kept his diagnosis quiet until after the election. "I waited until obviously after the election - I didn't want a big circus going on," he said. "Literally, straight after this ... I'm going ... straight down the road and straight into surgery." Joyce said he felt fine, before noting that was normal with a disease like prostate cancer. "You don't feel bad, you go to the toilet a bit more than you should," he added. Federal Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said Joyce was "very brave" for going public with his diagnosis. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. After a disastrous night for the Liberals on Saturday night, the knives are well and truly out. For the second straight federal election, the party lost more senior members who held metropolitan seats, leaving less options, and less talent, to choose from as it picks a new leader. NSW Senator Hollie Hughes admitted 'a complete lack of policy and economic narrative' from her team leading up the election was to blame for their disastrous night. One of the front runners to take over the leadership will no doubt be the shadow treasurer Angus Taylor – but not if Hughes can help it. When asked if he is capable of leading the party on ABC's Radio National this morning, she said: 'Not in my view. 'I have concerns about his capability. 'I don't know what he's been doing for three years?' she continued in a remarkable spray. 'There was no tax policy, no economic narrative.' The pair do have a history, which she alluded to, but the senator said a 'huge number' of her colleagues shared her doubts about his ability to unite and capably lead the party. 'His efforts to get rid of people like me in his leadership ambitions means that I'm still in the party room until June 30 and get to vote for the next leader, so it may not work out too well for him,' she said. As the party licks its wounds, members past and present have lamented how it lost its way. Former Coalition finance minister Simon Birmingham wrote in a blog post on LinkedIn that 'the brand of conservatism projected is clearly perceived as too harsh and out of touch' and that it had lost its sense of classic liberalism. 'Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us: the nasty party.' Clive Palmer has admitted he is now 'too old for politics' following the Trumpet of Patriots failed election campaign. The billionaire spent millions on a mass advertising campaign, however, the minor party failed to pick up a single lower house seat and is looking unlikely to pick up any seats in the Senate. The party only picked up 1.85 per cent of the primary vote, with One Nation outperforming it on 6.17 per cent, the Australian Electoral Commission said. Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that 'he was not really disappointed with the outcome', and said the Trumpet of the Patriots might not return in three years' time. 'I'm 71 and I'm getting too old for politics,' he said. 'I'd rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that's why I've donated $5m to Foodbank.' Voters across the country shared frustration over the party's mass text campaign. The party sent out over 17 million texts and had received over 10,000 complaints as a result, he said. However, Mr Cliver said he didn't believe it impacted their results. 'Ten thousand is pretty minimal compared to 17 million and the people who were complaining were not going to vote for us anyway,' he said. Read more from NCA NewsWire here. So who are the favourites to be the Liberals' next leader? Well if the bookmakers are anything to go by, it's a four-horse race. Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie is the favourite, according to Sportsbet. He is the youngest of the four at 42 and reservations have been raised of his experience, meaning it may be his time comes later on. He's ahead of Angus Taylor, who has come in for a fair bit of criticism from within the party after fronting the economic policy during what was repeatedly dubbed the cost-of-living election. Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan is next up after holding several key portfolios in the Morrison government. And finally Sussan Ley, the Liberal's deputy leader. Senator Hollie Hughes told the ABC this morning she believes having a female in the top spot could help "change the narrative around the party". Police in Sydney say one decision from a fisherman who was washed into the ocean on Sundaymost likely saved his life. With authorities across Australia increasingly concerned about the choices of anglers near rough waters, police in Sydney's Sutherland Shire hailed one key safety measure one man decided on before he was swept off rocks near Kurnell and swept 200 metre off shore. "Fortunately the angler was wearing a life jacket," police said. "This incident highlights the unpredictable nature of the ocean and the need to remain vigilant around it. Also, the fact that wearing a life jacket when in and around the ocean can save your life." The man was pulled from the ocean after about 10 minutes by NSW Water Police and was taken to hospital for further assessments. Federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has been praised for being "very brave" after revealing he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer. The one-time deputy prime minister, who comfortably won his regional NSW seat of New England in Saturday's election, revealed his diagnosis on Sunday. Joyce, 58, received the diagnosis following a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. The test came back with an elevated result and a subsequent MRI and biopsy revealed he had prostate cancer. Joyce, who will have the surgery on Monday, told Seven's Sunrise program he kept his diagnosis quiet until after the election. "I waited until obviously after the election - I didn't want a big circus going on," he said. "Literally, straight after this ... I'm going ... straight down the road and straight into surgery." Joyce said he felt fine, before noting that was normal with a disease like prostate cancer. "You don't feel bad, you go to the toilet a bit more than you should," he added. Federal Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said Joyce was "very brave" for going public with his diagnosis.
News.com.au
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Federal Election 2025: James Weir recaps election night TV war
As Anthony Albanese won the battle against Peter Dutton and re-claimed the title of Prime Minister, there was another war brewing live on-air as channels Seven and Nine duelled it out to see which network could lure the most viewers with a series of zany stunts and outlandish commentators who resembled the cast of the Looney Tunes. When it comes to election coverage, all those charts and numbers can be tedious. Who doesn't want a little razzmatazz? The night demands some light theatrics in the form of Clive Palmer being confronted about those annoying Trumpet spam texts while Peter Dutton gets plummeted into a dunk tank. Thanks to Channel 7 and Nine, it's as if two circuses had rolled into town. Bosses at Australia's two major commercial networks knew they'd be in a tussle of one-upmanship with Saturday's coverage. Channel 10 wasn't included in the competition. If you tuned in briefly, you would've seen tumbleweeds blowing across Sandra Sully's newsdesk. And ABC? Let's be real: no one has the patience to spend six hours watching Antony Green trying to figure out how the touchscreen jumbotron works. If we wanted to do that, we'd volunteer to teach iPhone workshops at nursing homes. Before the broadcasts even began, Channel 9 was in the lead. The network had publicly humiliated its highest paid star Karl Stefanovic by relegating the breakfast host to the lowly role of roving reporter – a gig usually reserved for cadets and kooky weathermen. He was forced into hanging out at Liberal HQ (i.e. an RSL club) doing sporadic man-on-the-street crosses back to the studio, where his former Today co-host Ali Langdon helmed the real coverage with newsreader Peter Overton and a cast of players. One of those characters was former defence minister Christopher Pyne, who even bought a fun new pair of glasses to wear during the broadcast. For a split second, when we glanced up at the TV, we thought it was Tina Fey in one of those TV commercials for But back to Karlos. We crossed to the 'dark and dank' (his words) Liberal HQ and watched him desperately trying to prove to his TV bosses that he's responsible enough to be included in this important event — and that he could do so without performing a shoey and/or streaking. 'It's a pretty bleak vibe here at Liberal HQ,' he informed the adults back in the studio. Karl was no doubt bruised that, over on Channel 7, bosses had put their faith in the network's own breakfast show host Nat Barr to helm the main coverage on the desk. And they'd also secured the crème de la crème of Australia's biggest political whackjobs. Producers booked Clive Palmer for the sole purpose of landing the biggest exclusive of the election. The moment the chair of Trumpet of Patriots plonked himself down at the panellist desk, he was interrogated about those annoying spam texts we've all been receiving in the lead up to the election. 'You have been the great disrupter in this campaign,' said one of the 15 panellists, whose voices were by now all just one indistinguishable blur. 'There's been absolutely no missing your spam messages on your mobile devices and messages on your mobile devices.' That's when Nat Barr stepped in to lead a fine example of campaign journalism. 'Changing the text laws is what we need to talk about on Monday,' she declared. One of the other panellists piped up: 'Can I ask on behalf of the country: could you give us your mobile number? I reckon there is about 15 million people who want to send you a message at about 3am. Geez, they are annoying.' With this blistering take-down, Channel 7 proved it was a voice for the people. The network immediately overtook Channel 9's coverage and was in the lead. As punishment, Nat Barr made Clive Palmer walk over to their patented 'Election Needle' to fiddle with it. For those who missed it because they were preoccupied with more important things (like watching the latest episode of Hacks), the Election Needle was a paper arrow glued to a cardboard dial with pictures of people's faces sticky taped to it. Thanks to this flimsy DIY prop, Channel 7 was deducted hefty points and immediately fell behind Nine on the leaderboard. But Nat Barr kicked right back into gear and crossed live to Jacqui Lambie, demanding the firebrand politician say something mean about Pauline Hanson. Though Lambie refused to play into political trash talk, we commend Nat's tenacious efforts to get a headline. Meanwhile, over at Liberal HQ, Karl – who's in the middle of contract negotiations and trying to keep his almost $3 million salary – was working overtime to rub his bosses' faces in it. He was talking in a low and sombre voice. (See! I can be serious!) And then, he pounced on an exclusive of his own – delivering it to the back door like a cat with a dead mouse. He accosted Peter Dutton in a shadowy hallway and cornered the opposition leader for an interview. His line of questioning? To paraphrase: Pete, no one's keen on ya – waddya reckon? Dutts: ' … Well, I've got no more hair to lose, right?' What else did the opposition leader say? Karlos couldn't remember. He was so excited about scoring a scoop that he started to zone out and think about how he'd celebrate. 'There's still no drinks here,' he bemoaned to the adults back in the studio. 'I don't know what's going on. It's desperate scenes.' Birds gotta fly. Fish gotta swim. Karlos gotta Karlos. Making matters even worse, it seemed his Today co-host Sarah Abo scored the better gig. While Karlos was booze-free, Sarah was down at Labor HQ and smashing tinnies with Albo's face printed on 'em. Over on Seven, Nat Barr crossed to Bob Katter in Townsville, where the independent MP launched into a rant about how Queensland had been stripped of 'freedom'. The crux of his gripe? Sydney is awarded luxuries such as theme parks like Wet 'n' Wild, meanwhile, he's banned from using a gun. 'You know, Brisbane and Sydney, they have their fun parks,' he rasped. 'We love going and shooting and camping and hunting and fishing. The guns have been taken off us!' He then talked about crocodiles because, well, you can never have a conversation with Bob Katter without a mention of crocodiles. 'We can't go to the creek and have a swim because they are crocodile infested!' Alright, grandpa. Time for a XXXX beer and a lie down. By 8.20pm, the result was called: Albo won. Channel 7 producers sent an intern out on a Vespa to follow Albo's motorcade as it travelled from Kirribilli House to Labor HQ. But there was a hitch. The camera lens was smudged and the footage was just one big blur. The PM's vehicle wasn't even at the centre of that blur. At some point, the camera was nudged and pointed to the side of the road. So, for about 15 minutes, all we viewed was a blurry whoosh of houses and median strips. It was as if it were filmed on a 2008 model iPhone. Channel 7 boss Kerry Stokes needs to dip into his purse and buy his news department a GoPro. While we were watching Channel 7's riveting coverage of suburban streetscapes, Dutton was at Liberal HQ conceding. By 10pm, Albo was on the air, claiming victory and choking back sobs. 'A short time ago, I spoke with Peter Dutton who has, of course, conceded defeat,' he told the crowd of supporters. 'And I thanked him-' At the mention of Dutton, the crowd interjected and started to boo. Albo roused on them like they were Toto the dog who'd just pissed on a rug at Kirribilli House. 'No! No!' he scolded. 'What we do in Australia is we treat people with respect.' Of course, the MVP of Albo's campaign – his Medicare card – got flashed one more time. After Albo left the stage, we cut back to the Channel 7 panel and former Labor leader Bill Shorten sighed: 'Thank God this election is over and we can get on with stuff!' But not quite. Over on Channel 9, the party was just getting started. Producers rolled out The Dunk Tank. It's exactly what you think it is: someone throws a ball at a bullseye lever and a person seated above a plastic box is dropped into a pool of water. For this dunk tank, the people seated above the water were CGI imitations of politicians who'd lost. In all honesty, we expected this kind of nonsense from those clowns over at Channel 7 – with their horoscopes and skits. But on Channel 9? Circus music began to tootle over the speakers in the studio. Then a cartoon version of Peter Dutton's face appeared on the seat in the Dunk Tank. Nine's political editor Charles Croucher was acting as the carnie who manned the booth. Roll up! Roll up! He tried getting panellists like Christopher Pyne to come up and dunk the pollies. Clearly uncomfortable, they all scrunched their faces and wiggled out of partaking in the stunt. The segment was sinking like a … like a … well, like a politician in a dunk tank. Croucher continued with the duties. 'A genuine thank you for your service, Peter Dutton, but … into the drink! Three! Two! One! Throw the ball!' he yelled. Splash! Peter's face plonked into the water. It was clear the panellists found the gimmick disrespectful and humiliating rather than cute and kitschy. After dunking Dutton, one of the panellists piped up: 'They're all human beings. They all have served their country and they've done their very best.' And with this appalling stunt, Channel 9 won the election night coverage. There's no way Channel 7 could've pulled it off. Bob Katter would've taken one look at the water tank and thought there was a crocodile in it.
