Treading the borders with Mark McGowan

Lights, camera, Mark McGowan! Australia’s most popular Premier is added acting to his resume, starring in a new campaign welcoming West Australians to live theatre.

Has WA Premier Mark McGowan caught the acting bug?

Lights, camera, Mark McGowan! Australia’s most popular Premier is added acting to his resume, starring in a new campaign to welcome back West Australians to live theatre. It’s a softer spin on Scotty from Marketing’s Where the Bloody Here Are You Lara Bingle bungle back in 2006. The ad opens on actor Alexandria Steffensen performing an excerpt of Romeo and Juliet to McGowan, seated in an otherwise empty and eerie theatre. Steffensen pulls a face, waiting for a reaction. “Wow!” McGowan says as he claps. Then he turns to camera and says, with a WAAPA smile: “It’s just not the same without you”. Next stop, the West End! Well, vaccine pending … perhaps in 2022? With WA easing phase-four restrictions, McGowan decided to put his face to the campaign to get audiences back in the stalls by teaming up with the Black Swan state theatre company, Blue Room, WA Youth Theatre, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and Yirra Yaakin Theatre Co. There’s two more 30-sec commercials featuring comedian Peter Rowsthorn and ABC Radio host Andrea Gibbs.

Bellissimo

Strewth hasn’t seen political acting that cheesy since Edward Gough Whitlam appeared in a 2001 TV ad for Leggo’s … speaking Italian. “Fellow Australians,” the former prime minister addressed the camera from the kitchen. “Dinner need not mean labour in your kitchen.” Groan. “Not with Leggo’s revolutionary Italian Cooking Sauces. This one is Chicken Cacciatore. Brown some chicken, pour in the sauce, and cover. 12 minutes later, it’s time.” Wink wink. “Fit for a queen or a president,” Gough concluded as he struck a Napoleonic pose.

Mate v mate

The cold war between Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk continues. “Look, I’ve messaged her on Sunday and … We’ve not had that conversation yet, which is disappointing,” the NSW Premier explained. “I’ve tried. I reached out to her and congratulated her and asked to have that conversation. That’s fine. But at the end of the day, it is the citizens that hurt.” Sources say Palaszczuk finally replied via text after State of Origin on Wednesday night with a single word — “Queenslander”.

Hot air

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a Qatar Airways hot air balloon above Parliament House! Could this have something to do with Doha? The Sydney Swans are demanding a please explain from their corporate airline partner over the “deeply concerning” reports that Australian women were stripsearched in early October after a newborn was found. If QA were hoping to catch the eye of Scott Morrison or Marise Payne in the Canberra Bubble™, they were about 280km off (in Sydney). Qatar’s hot air is not a new pretty fly ploy. It was launched in February 2018 with a “celebrity flight” — former Miss World Australia Erin Holland; Bachelor alumnus Tim Robards and Anna Heindrich; and model Kris Smith (Dannii Minogue’sex) gave an acting masterclass in how to act enthusiastic about the “exciting” and “absolutely” magnificent mangroves of Lake Burley Griffin. According to Qatar Airways, it’s the “largest passenger balloon currently flying in Canberra” and flies ”every day in the morning for 40 weeks of the year”.

Zero pucks

ScoMo stopped the boats and now the Don wants to stop the votes! Joe Hockey is backing in his golfing mate Donald Trump on claims of fraud in the US poll. The former treasurer and American ambassador pointed to Joe Biden’s 94 per cent vote in Washington DC as “for sure” proof. Why? “I find it hard to believe … Even my best booth in Longueville (North Sydney, NSW) I got 83 per cent.” Oh the humanity! Anthony Albanese wasn’t buying it: “Joe needed perhaps to get out more when he was in Washington DC, because the Democrats, of course, got over 90 per cent of the vote in 2016, in 2012 and in 2008. And it’s pretty consistent with those outcomes.” The fully grown Chaser Boys were briefly booted from Twitter for impersonating the (current) US President and tweeting “Don’t vote for me, I’m a massive idiot”. But the boys redeemed themselves with this canny observation about the 77-year-oldBiden: “Told he might have lost the election, Biden reassures campaign staff that it’s always in the last place you look.”

What’s in a name

Albo phoned in to Triple M Townsville, where it’s safe to say things didn’t go according to plan.

Steve Price, host: “I haven’t spoken to the Leader of the Opposition for ages. We are going to have a little chat. Hello.”

Albanese: “Hey, how are you going?”

Price: “Who’s that?”

Albanese: “It’s Anthony Albanese.”

Price: “Easy-peasy Albanese.”

Albanese: “That’s me.”

Price: “The kids say easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. So, it can be Albanese. How are you, mate?”

Albanese: “I am very well.”

Price: “I’m very honoured to have a call from you. What are you ringing me for?”

Albanese: “Because my team lined it up for your team and I do what I’m told.”

Malarndirri McCarthy showing me how to feed the meerkats at @Crocodyluspark pic.twitter.com/lgKScKS1ic

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 2, 2020

Collared Greens

The most on-brand segue of the season goes to Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young: “If like me you’re holding breath as the results roll in, just imagine how hard it’s going to be to breathe if we don’t start cleaning up the environment.”

If like me you’re holding breath as the results roll in, just imagine how hard it’s going to be to breathe if we don’t start cleaning up the environment.
We are running out of time to deal with pollution and the climate crisis.
The planet can’t afford another 4 years of Trump 🌏

— 💚🌏 Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) November 4, 2020

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