Dangers of dancing at HMAS Supply commissioning

Images of the Defence Force chief watching young women ‘twerk’ at the event have shocked the nation, but Defence say they were only supporting local communities.

Images of Defence Force chief Angus Campbell watching a troupe of young women “twerk” at a naval ship commissioning have shocked the nation, but Defence say they were only supporting local communities. The said twerking — a type of dancing involving repeated movement of one’s posterior — was the work of local Sydney dancehall troupe 101 Doll Squadron. They were invited by the HMAS Supply crew and the navy to celebrate the commissioning of HMAS Supply on Saturday. And Defence says it was just about ensuring the ship remains connected to the community in Woolloomooloo. “HMAS Supply and the Royal Australian Navy are committed to working with Australians from all backgrounds in actively supporting local charities and community groups,” a Defence spokeswoman told Strewth. Given their very casual clothing and style of dancing, no navy in the world had seen such a spectacle since Cher’s music video for If I Could Turn Back Time.

Defence chief Angus Campbell was in attendance at the commissioning ceremony.

Governor-General David Hurley was also at the ceremony but Defence denies he was present for the risque dancers. “The dance was performed prior to the commencement of the commissioning formalities and prior to the arrival of His Excellency the Governor-General, Chief of Navy and Commander Australian Fleet,” the Defence spokeswoman said. Rather oddly, ABC footage also intersected images of the dancers with Hurley. Defence’s list does not include Campbell and it refused to comment when Strewth pushed them on whether he saw the dancing. 101 Doll Squadron was also approached for comment. It looks like they do a lot of good work at multicultural festivals and promoting women of colour in the arts. The dance troupe has been subjected to some mean tweets since their dancing went viral. Maybe not the right dancing for the navy but let’s hope 101 Doll Squadron goes from strength to strength.

WA (Wait A-while)

Scott Morrison is back in Perth after a 538-day gap. It’s just the worst of a disturbing trend of our prime ministers spending more and more time away from the great state of Western Australia. The Prime Minister on Tuesday defended the huge gap between Perth visits, and, to be fair, snap border closures didn’t help. But his last visit to Perth was on October 27, 2019 – 146 days before any border closures. WA Labor sources say the party will weaponise the PM’s long stint away from the greatest state as hopes rise they can pick up at least three federal seats from the Liberals at the next election. Morrison is just following a dark trend for West Aussies who may hope to see their PM outside an election cycle. According to prime ministerial transcripts, Malcolm Turnbull’s longest period between WA drinks was 238 days (between September 2017 and April 2018) and Tony Abbott had a 142-day gap between visits to the west (November 2013 to March 2014). Before the last change in government, Julia Gillard had a 171-day gap between Perth visits outside election time (October 2011 to April 2012). And Kevin Rudd — in his first stint as PM — was a more frequent visitor to the state and none of his visit gaps rarely exceeded 100 days. Let’s hope Morrison and his successors — Labor and Liberal — spend far more time in WA.

Scott Morrison visiting BHP FutureFit Academy at Welshpool in Perth on Wednesday. .Picture: NCA NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

Footy follies

The Prime Minister once again claimed he did not support an AFL team on his trip to Perth. “I don’t follow any particular AFL team, I think that would be pretty disingenuous, and I think people sort of sniff that out pretty fast,” he told The West Live podcast on Tuesday. “I have my (Cronulla) Sharks, and I love my Sharks, but I always enjoy going to (AFL games).” Yet he did have an AFL team once upon a time, as Strewth has had to remind people countless times. The Australian’s Greg Brown revealed in 2018 that Morrison publicly declared he was a fan of the Western Bulldogs. He even bragged he was singing the Bulldogs’ theme song after the team had a win in 2009.

“(Morrison) is singing sons of the west, red, white and blue, we’ll come out snarling bulldogs thru and thru (sic) go doggies,” the PM tweeted at the time.

Future PM class

Who’s the creme de la creme of Canberra? Just look at the McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership’s first batch of Advanced Political Leadership winners. Its newest program will see future political stars — of all political stripes — receive mentoring from former party leaders, ministers and top civil servants on what makes a good minister. Federal MPs who have made the cut include Liberals Katie Allen, Tim Wilson and Fiona Martin. Labor’s inductees include Daniel Mulino, Jenny McAllister and Julian Hill. And the Nats representative is Senator Perin Davey. Could there be a future leader in this clever bunch?

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