Clive Palmer ad a well-made IKEA fake

Anthony Albanese sent a signal yesterday to the brains behind the billboard mocking Clive Palmer’s spending. But there was one problem.

“One of the things I am gonna get my team to do: find out whoever did that Ikea ad. I want them to be bidding for the Labor Party’s work at the next election,” Anthony Albanese declared yesterday alongside his new gender-balanced leadership team. The only problem: the Ikea ad is a fake. The spoof billboard mocking Clive Palmer was made by Melbourne-based art director and copywriter Adrian Elton (he claims in 12 minutes) and posted on Twitter on May 20. It read: “Geez Clive … $60 million and not a single seat? SNILLE swivel chair, white $27.99. Should’ve come to Ikea.” The meme went viral, with many pundits and politicians posting it as if it were real in the days after Labor’s bruising defeat. Elton followed it up with two other auspol-themed Ikea spoofs: “Yo Tony … losing a seat is the worst” and “Heya Bill … Ouchies! Time for a sit and think?”.

Farrell barrelled

Speaking of leadership, when is a captain’s call not a captain’s call? When it comes to the new Opposition Leader’s frontbench, apparently. The biggest philosophical question to come out of the Canberra corridors of power since the introduction of the bonk ban had the press bubble all hot and bothered. But, as Albanese explained, it’s very simple. “Don Farrell made the decision himself (to cede the Senate deputy leadership to Kristina Keneally). I make that point. I make the point also that Ed Husic made the decision himself (to step down from the frontbench in favour of Keneally).” OK, so just a lot of people independently coming to the same conclusion? “(Farrell) was prepared to step aside as Labor’s deputy leader in the Senate on the basis that he understood that I had made it clear that my view was that there be gender balance in Labor’s leadership team.” Gotcha, so a captain’s call? “I don’t regard this as a captain’s call at all. What I regard this is: making clear my views of what is required in order for us to move forward. And I have done this respectfully. No one has been told what to do. I have made it clear what my position is.” Clear as mud. Fun fact: Don “The Godfather” Farrell is a distant cousin to the woman who deposed him, Keneally. I think @hamonryen put it best: “Sad to hear about Don Farrell’s demotion, a politician I definitely know and could easily pick out of a lineup.”

Shorten-sweet burns

Now that he has (officially) taken his job, could Albo also be set to take over the Bill Shorten zinger?

Here’s a free character assessment he offered up of former communications minister Mitch Fifield (who is off to the UN): “I think he is a decent person. I wish him well, but he’s also a lack of talent.” Liberal senator Zed Seselja is also a contender for burn of the week. “Since 2016, Labor has had a shadow minister for charities,” Labor’s Andrew Leigh tweeted. “Now, the Coalition has decided to copy the idea. Just two small downsides: 1. It’s an assistant minister. 2. It’s Zed Seselja. Perhaps they should be honest, and call him the assistant minister against charities?” Seselja fired back: “On the other hand, there appears to be little downside for the ALP in dumping you from the shadow ministry.”

Didn’t reckon on result

For months Schwartz Media editor-in-chief Erik Jensen has been spruiking his upcoming Quarterly Essay, “The Reckoning — Election 2019”, due to be published at the end of next month. Black Inc Books has quietly changed the rather bold description of Jensen’s seminal political offering. But Strewth never forgets. Compare the pair.

Pre-May 18: “In Quarterly Essay 74, Erik Jensen considers what has gone wrong for the Coalition, and what prospects it has for renewal or collapse. He looks at Labor’s strengths and weaknesses, and what kind of government it might form. Through interviews and close observation, Jensen homes in on the meaning of a transformative election. Are we seeing the last days of the Liberal Party? Is Labor capable of forging a new accord for the nation? Does anyone have an answer to the voters’ disgust with politics as usual?” As of yesterday: “In Quarterly Essay 74, Erik Jensen considers what went wrong for Labor and how Scott Morrison won his remarkable victory. Who are Morrison’s ‘quiet people’? What did Shorten Labor fail to see? And will fear always trump hope in politics? Through interviews and close observation, Jensen homes in on the insecurities that drive Bill Shorten and the certainties that helped Scott Morrison win. He considers how each man reflects, challenges and comforts the national character. This is a fresh, urgent look at the meaning of the 2019 election.” Urgent, indeed.

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