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HOLD YOUR TONGUE, PM

While everyone had something to say about ‘the slap’ the Prime Minister should have kept quiet, writes Jane Stephens.

It is The Slap that continues to reverberate around the world.

It kicked off when actor Will Smith did his ’nana over a harsh joke Oscars host Chris Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith strode onto the stage and clocked Rock, and then there was rocking all over the world.

The immediate responses were strange. Smith was consoled, Rock disappeared – so the instinct was to comfort the perpetrator, not the victim. The Academy Awards room, the online and TV audiences and the internet went into overdrive.

Some celebs said they wished their man would stand up for them like that. Some said picking on a person’s health condition was not cool. Many were rightly horrified at Smith’s violence. But soon after, when he went up to accept the Best Actor gong, he said he was sorry – sort of.

Then the flames were fanned here, when the Prime Minister made mention of it on Brisbane radio.

Why on earth would he weigh in? Why didn’t he just back away, sensing danger?

With an election looming it would have been prudent, but in an effort to be jolly and friendly, our PM couldn’t help himself.

He was asked if he had ever felt the need to cross the floor to slap someone in Parliament. “I’m also fiercely defensive of anyone who would say anything about Jenny too, so I can understand it,” he chortled. And he added, somewhat lamely: “That’s not how you roll.”

Good grief.

He missed his chance to note that a physical response to a verbal lashing is never okay, even if in defence of a loved one. He also could have said violence should never be conflated as a sign of love. He could have said women as empowered as Jada or Jen are unlikely to need a knight in shining armour. But he didn’t.

And wait, there’s more.

Upset is rippling over the ill-conceived action of the juniors in the PM’s party – the Young Liberals – when they joined in the reaction avalanche on social media.

They posted a mocked-up version of a still of the incident, positioning Rock as hard-working Australians and Smith as Labor’s higher taxes. The meme (now taken down) has led to a political skirmish on both social and legacy media.

And so the rocking around the world continues. These are strange times.

Jane Stephens is a USC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.

RETAIL REALITY CHECK

Ashley Robinson has caught a glimpse into the future, and it’s made him realise that retirement may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

My dearly beloved had a small operation the other day on her right hand, which she normally does everything with. I mean everything. And I was engaged to do everything for her, except for one thing which I begged her to use her other hand for – lucky for me she was successful.

The other week I wrote about being in lockdown, which was a window I looked into for retirement and didn’t much like the view. Being the right hand of the boss of me was another reminder that in retirement I will need a hobby – one that gets some distance between us on a semi regular basis (well, let’s go for regular).

I was pondering how much I would delve into being the right hand when I heard a reverse beeper in the driveway. It was a click, pick and pay Woolies truck delivering to the new neighbours, which made me think about old mate’s version of pick, click and pay last week. She clicks, or in fact points, her fingers of her left hand, I pick and pay. Great system.

I tried to talk her into letting me go grocery shopping by myself but got a roll of her eyes and a “by the time I explain it all to you, take pictures it will be easier to both go. At least I know what to do.” As painful as that trip to Woolies was for both of us, I still learnt more about old mate. Like she picks everything she needs for her flock of birds whether on special or not, apart from refusing to pay $1.50 per single passion fruit. But everything else has to be on special, especially if it’s something I want. The Arnott’s biscuit aisle didn’t have one bloody special ticket in sight, so no biscuits for the fat boy.

We painfully got through the list, the looking, the checking what weight or metric volume, expiry date versus price. Wow. We ended up at the deli and she headed straight for the prime grain-fed Wagyu beef, not on special. She didn’t even ask how much a kilo it was, just ordered it and I picked it up in its own special brown bag. As I fondled the beautiful lump of meat I thought, finally something I like. It must be the way I was looking at it because she said, “George will like that”. Alas, it was for George the kelpie cross.

Another window for retirement and another bracing view of what’s to come.

Ashley Robinson is the manager of Alex Surf Club and the chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors. These are not the views of My Weekly Preview publishers.

BENDIGO, VIC

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SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES

Sami Muirhead says Easter is a time for Netflix, reading, eating too much chocolate, and a Channing Tatum flick at the movies. A swing towards Labor is on the cards at the election in May, but polls suggest the Coalition may be inching forwards. WORDS: AAP.

The countdown is on until one of the best times of the year, Easter! I love the cooler weather, the endless bowls of tiny chocolate eggs and, compared to Christmas, there is so much less pressure to catch up with every single friend and family member you have had contact with over the past three decades. Amen to that!

I am planning to binge season two of Bridgerton on Netflix, and finally read a pile of books I have been collecting. Top of my book list are The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari, and Run Rose Run by none other than Dolly Parton and James Patterson.

I love Dolly. Who doesn’t love Dolly with her beautiful brain and creative song-writing skills and million-dollar empire?

I tell you what I do not love and that is a harsh slice of reality. I wish I had not read a recent article by Michelle Bridges, the fitness guru. It asks her what you should do if you eat an entire Lindt bunny this Easter. My answer was perhaps you should eat a second one while still wearing your pyjamas at lunch time. Perhaps you should high five yourself. Nope. Michelle’s response was a lot more sobering as she outlined the fact it requires an equivalent of 269 burpees, 401 squats, or 45 minutes of running to burn off the bunny completely.

Sorry to stay on this Debbie Downer path, but apparently a classic hot cross bun takes 145 burpees or 20 minutes of running to burn off.

That is depressing. So let’s cheer ourselves up by thinking about a big bucket of popcorn with a frozen coke chaser. Of course, I refer to the movie menu. I am also hoping to get to the real movies this Easter and see that new Channing Tatum movie about him and a dog that the powerhouses of Hollywood have called the catchy name of Dog.

I think this movie was made for many of us – does it get better than old Magic Mike and a dog on the big screen?

My favourite movie is The Vow and there is a scene where a shirtless and forlorn Channing holds a cat to his torso and cuddles it. It is a cinematic masterpiece. I can only imagine how much so many of us will gain from an hour and 41 minutes of Channing hanging out with a canine on the big screen. That is my Easter gift to you all.

Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami tune into Mix FM.

Asenior minister has defended the Coalition’s poor standing in the latest set of opinion polls, ahead of the government firing the starting gun on the election.

A newspoll suggests the Coalition is closing the gap on the primary vote, with support for Labor slipping slightly in the wake of the federal budget, but the Opposition still appears in line for victory.

The poll, conducted for The Australian, shows 38 per cent of voters plumping for Labor to form the next government – a fall of three percentage points since the last survey – with the Coalition improving a point to 36 per cent.

The findings mean the primary contest has tightened to just two points from a six-point margin three weeks ago.

On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is ahead 54 per cent to 46 per cent for the government, which if realised at the May election could translate to a national swing of more than five per cent.

But Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says while the polls aren’t being ignored, it’s not the first time the Coalition has been behind in the leadup to an election.

Labor’s primary vote slip appeared to have been picked up by the Greens, which saw a two-point jump in support to 10 per cent, while Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and the United Australia Party remain unchanged on three per cent.

Mr Albanese is one point ahead of Scott Morrison as preferred prime minister in an Ipsos poll, with 38 per cent of Australians leaning toward the Opposition leader.

The Labor leader was in Brisbane Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese recently alongside Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to spruik a promise to reduce road congestion in the capital.

Mr Albanese says he’s hopeful about winning seats in Queensland.

“We are campaigning strongly across the board and one of the things about Queensland is when it swings, it swings big,” he told Brisbane radio 4BC.

“One of the things that strikes me in seats like Brisbane is people come up and talk about climate change, and they know Scott Morrison just hasn’t taken that issue seriously.”

Mr Morrison will be in Melbourne spruiking the government’s manufacturing and apprenticeships credentials, following last week’s budget which included a cash bonus for apprentices .

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says the budget outlined a clear choice on a stronger economy underpinned by large infrastructure projects: “(Infrastructure) is something our nation has got to do in light of the circumstances of what we see with China pushing forward and becoming a real and imminent threat to Australia,” he told the Seven Network. – AAP

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