Comedian John Oliver lampoons Barnaby Joyce’s ‘war on terrier’ on US television

JOHN Oliver has weighed in on the ‘war on terrier’ in typically bombastic fashion, and Australia is well and truly in his sights.

US-BASED television host John Oliver has weighed in on the ‘war on terrier’, demanding all things Australian be removed from the US within 50 hours or a tiny koala will be euthanised.

The Last Week Tonight anchor has once again trained his keen eye on Australian politics — a deep well of comedy material — and produced a six-minute segment on the recent set-to between Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and two-time “Sexiest Man Alive” Johnny Depp, over the illegal importation of the megastar’s pups Pistol and Boo.

Mr Joyce told the press the two pet dogs belonging to Depp would be euthanised unless the actor removed them from Australia.

“It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States,” Mr Joyce told reporters in Canberra last week, after authorities found Depp “snuck in” the Yorkshire terriers on his private jet last month, in breach of Australia’s strict quarantine laws. “Now Mr Depp has to either take his dogs back to California or we’re going to have to euthanise them. He’s got about 50 hours left to remove the dogs.”

The pets were subsequently flown back to the United States.

Pistol, Boo and John ... comedian Oliver weighs in on Barnaby Joyce’s ‘war on terrier’. Picture: YouTube

On Sunday night’s program, Oliver lauded Mr Joyce’s gutsy stance against the dogs, telling his audience: “I’ve got to say that’s pretty ballsy. Elected officials very rarely risk openly telling puppies to go f--k themselves.”

Oliver went to town on the breathless coverage of the canine “illegal aliens”, including audio from a volatile Kyle Sandilands’ interview with Mr Joyce. “I’m going off because you sound like an insensitive wanker,” Sandilands told the minister.

Ballsy ... John Oliver feigned admiration of Mr Joyce’s gutsy stance against the illegally imported dogs. Picture: YouTube

Finally, Oliver threw to a menacing voiceover, to make a reciprocal demand on behalf of America: “50 hours to get everything Australian out of our country or else”.

The list of offending items included Vegemite, Midnight Oil, Silverchair, Fosters and Mel Gibson, with a caveat that Hugh Jackman stay. “We’re keeping him — he’s delightful,” the voiceover said.

His diabolical final threat was the destruction of a tiny koala at the Los Angeles Zoo, shown framed in a gun sight.

Or the koala gets it ... the diabolical final threat was the destruction of a small, furry Australian at the Los Angeles Zoo. Picture: YouTube

“You now have 49 hours and 59 minutes to get him out of here or we’ll shoot him in his adorable face,” he said.

Oliver has admitted a soft spot for Australia and has previously featured satirical segments on Prime Minister Tony Abbott and a series on gun control legislation, filmed when he was a cast member on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Oliver’s gleeful takedown of Mr Joyce over the pups was not his first by a comedian. Peter Helliar and his co-hosts on The Project taunted the minister to deep blushes last week.