Strewth: The big blue

Hands up who remembers that strange pre-election stunt from almost three years ago, the Women for Gillard launch, with its bar on the media and mobile phone footage of that portentous speech that invited us “to imagine it, a prime minister, a man in a blue tie, who goes on holidays, to be replaced by a man in a blue tie”? In its own odd way it almost came true when Malcolm Turnbull announced the government would leave negative gearing alone in the budget yesterday. We had a man in a blue bold-checked shirt — the PM — followed by a man in a shirt with smaller, more conservative checks — Scott Morrison. Member for Banks David Coleman, who hosted the event in his electorate, clearly only skimmed the memo. His shirt was solid blue.

Families collared

Much was made at the announcement of “mum and dad investors”. Perhaps the blue shirts were supposed to signal blue collar.

Splitting hairs

On Saturday, Turnbull retweeted a photo from Sam Chadwick, the general manager of soccer’s A-League, of his son Max sitting alongside the PM as they both got a trim at the barbers. He could have sent it out again yesterday with a line about Labor, property investors and haircuts.

Birthday bonanza

Australians for Constitutional Monarchy convener David Flint has been kept busy over the past few days with events to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, but his labours have not been without consolations. At one lunch he scooped the raffle. The prizes, selected with Anzac in mind, included the book Kokoda by Peter FitzSimons — the Australian Republican Movement chief.

Maggie’s colour control

Margaret Thatcher died three years short of the big 9-0, but her influence remains. Indeed, such is the appeal of the Iron Lady that Biteback Publishing, the political book specialists founded by former Tory MP turned broadcaster Iain Dale, is set to release The Margaret Thatcher Colouring Book ahead of the Conservative Party conference in September. As The Times notes, some of her biggest admirers “will be very neat at colouring in given their zeal for strict control of borders”.

Grammar policy

Politics and social media can be a volatile mix. A group of Victorian Liberals have gone to war with the party over its new Facebook recruiting campaign. “Action your values,” it says. As good conservatives should be, they’re distressed over the use of a noun as a verb.

Political pokie porkies

Labor frontbencher Nick Champion has added his voice to the growing group of major party figures warning against a vote for candidates from the Nick Xenophon Team at the looming election. “It’s a bit like if you like putting your vote in a political pokie machine,” he told the ABC yesterday. “You might get a winner, but the odds are, you’re going to get a loser.” As a South Australian, Champion should recall Xenophon was first elected to state parliament on a “No Pokies” ticket and workshop the metaphor a little.

Safe spelling fail

From Qantas; a marketing email with a link through to a human interest story on the company website: “Meet Rachel, engeneer from Brisbane with an obsession for detail.” For the safety of passengers here’s hoping she’s more obsessive about detail than the customer relations team, anyhow.

Prince pedant

There’s no nerdery like music nerdery when it comes to obsessive attention to detail. Still, British critic Simon Price may have taken it a step too far in his weekend obituary for Prince on music nerdery site The Quietus: “I can still remember exactly where I was standing when When Doves Cry came over the radio and nearly floored me. N 51° 23’ 42.044’ W 3° 17’ 18.903, since you ask.”

Wide Bay wheelbarrow

Yet more merriment courtesy of James McGrath. The Queensland LNP senator was campaigning yesterday at Gympie’s Southside market with police officer Llew O’Brien, the would-be successor to former Nationals leader Warren Truss in the seat of Wide Bay. “I bought a rusty old wheelbarrow for $10” McGrath Facebooked. “Happy Mother’s Day mum for two weeks’ time.”

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