Election 2022: Binge on cringe: the tale of the gaffe tape

Anthony Albanese’s campaign gaffes on Monday weren’t the first from a politician on the hustings. Here’s a look at our top 10 from elections past | WATCH

Anthony Albanese.

Is it any wonder Scott Morrison is preaching “how good is the Reserve Bank’s cash rate” after Anthony Albanese’s stumble on the first full day of the election campaign.

You know what they say: when you have a go, you get a gaffe.

Of course, “human” Albo is not the first pollie to slip up.

Here are a few of our other favourite cringe-worthy moments.

10. Close the gap, 2007

Kevin Rudd was caught out with a less-than-adequate knowledge of numbers in 2007.

The noted earwax eater was asked by a journalist to name the tax rates and where thresholds kick in.

“Well, as of July 1, if you went through the four thresholds, I think the high threshold kicks in I think at $175,000, then I think it cascades down the spectrum,” Rudd replied.

Which perfectly lined up this Peter Costello zinger: “Cascade is a form of beer, it is not a form of tax threshold.”

A few weeks later, John Howard found himself on A Current Affair …

Tracy Grimshaw: “Quick pop quiz before you go. What’s the current average weekly wage in Australia?”

Howard: “Well, it’s about at an annual level it’s about just over $50,000 a year.”

Grimshaw: “OK. What‘s the official Reserve Bank interest rate … It’s actually $867 a week … The official Reserve Bank interest rate?”

Howard: “Yeah, I’ve given you … well, it’s 6.25.”

Grimshaw: “6.5 actually.”

Howard: “Hmmm.”

Grimshaw: “Prime Minister, it’s going to been an interesting six weeks.”

It’s not the first time a leader has fumbled on interest rates in the heat of an election campaign. John Howard was caught out on A Current Affair in 2007. #ausvotespic.twitter.com/uIfPRGii6o

— Naveen Razik (@naveenjrazik) April 11, 2022

9. Bob Katter, 1989

The mad hatter, Bob Katter, made headlines in 1989 for famously promising to “walk to Bourke backwards if the poof population of North Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent”.

His half-brother, Carl, later came out; however, that didn’t stop Katter from insisting same-sex marriage wasn’t an issue of concern for voters during the 2017 postal survey we had to have.

“I mean, you know, people are entitled to their sexual proclivities. Let there be a thousand blossoms bloom, as far as I am concerned,” Katter said. “But I ain’t spending any time on it because in the meantime, every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland.”

In case you missed it, here's Bob Katter's alternative view on the #samesexmarriage debate. Thanks for watching. #Insiders#auspolpic.twitter.com/iObsR1tDs1

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) November 18, 2017

8. Check a map, 2019

Scott Morrison approached a woman of East Asian appearance and greeted her with a “ni hao” while hitting the hustings in 2019.

The woman responded by telling the Prime Minister she was Korean.

Where did the interaction take place? In Strathfield, a Sydney suburb sometimes called “little Korea”.

7. Free Rover, 2006

Kim Beazley confused US presidential adviser Karl Rove with Aussie television host Rove McManus back in 2006, when commenting on the tragic death of McManus’s wife, Belinda Emmett.

“The first thing I want to say is this: today our thoughts and the thoughts of many, many Australians will be with Karl Rove as he goes through the very sad process of burying his beloved wife. And I just want him to know that my thoughts and the thoughts of my colleagues are very much with him today.”

Kim Beazley.

6. Down and out, 1994

Alexander Downer stunned a blue-blood dinner into silence when he told them the party’s slogan, “The Things That Matter”, should be changed to “the things that batter”, to reflect their domestic violence policy.

He lost the Liberal leadership a short time later.

Alexander Downer.

5. Pump it up, 2014

Joe Hockey backfired after telling the ABC his planned fuel tax increase wouldn’t hurt poorer Australians.

“The people that actually pay the most are higher-income people … The poorest people either don‘t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases,” the treasurer said.

A similar “out of touch” criticism was directed at Malcolm Fraser during a 12-month wage freeze in 1982.

The then-prime minister told workers: “life wasn’t meant to be easy”.

The line originally came from a George Bernard Shaw play: “Life wasn’t meant to be easy, my child; but take courage, it can be delightful.”

4. Rising tides, 2015

Scott Morrison was the only one to spot the boom microphone when a delayed meeting prompted Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott to joke about the plight of Pacific Island nations.

The excruciating 20-second exchange ended with Dutton declaring: “Time doesn’t mean anything when you’re about to be, you know, have water lapping at your door.”

3. Stop the votes, 2013

Liberal Party candidate Jaymes Diaz went viral after he couldn’t comprehend the Coalition’s asylum-seeker policy in 2013.

Diaz expressed his admiration for the “six-point plan” to stop boat arrivals. But when asked what the six points were – more than five times by Ten News – he couldn’t say more than “stop the boats”.

The Liberals were predicted to win the western Sydney seat of Greenway from Labor’s Michelle Rowland. But after the gaffe, Diaz was turned back by Team Abbott and refused to speak to the media for the rest of the campaign.

2. Know your onion, 2011

Tony Abbott accused the Seven Network of trying to create a “media circus” over a video of him discussing the death of a Digger in Afghanistan.

“It’s pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn’t it?” he told a US commander.

Confronted with the vision, Abbott said it was taken out of context. When asked how, he went silent. For more than 20 seconds.

Then again, we would never dare suggest that Abbott is the “suppository” of all wisdom.

1. Hall of fame, 2001

Mayflies may be blessed with a natural lifespan sometimes as short as a half-hour, but even they look like a pack of small, winged Methuselahs compared with the famously brief political career of Mal Meninga.

Clocking in at 28 seconds, the footballer tripped when asked in his first-ever interview why he was running.

“A number of reasons, I guess throughout my sporting career, I’ve had the urge to do community work and … I’m buggered, I’m sorry.”