The Sketch: Normal service resumes to yada, yada, yada in the spirit of Seinfeld

Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House yesterday. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty

“We thought this week … that we would see a response from Josh Frydenberg of substance,” Anth­ony­ Albanese said. “What we got was a speech out of Seinfeld — a speech about nothing.”

Surely, too soon! Jerry Stiller will be rolling over in his grave.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks at the despatch box during Question Time in the House of Representatives. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty

Yet perhaps the Opposition Leader was right with his yada, yada, yada theme. The new normal of nice politics had been well and truly popped by the bubble and replaced with a classic Canberra Festivus (for the rest of us).

Let the airing of grievances commence! “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people, now you’re going to hear about it,” Bob Katter declared. Well, not really. But he wasn’t happy when no journos turned up to his joint press conference with Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon.

Over in question time, the Treasurer popped a lozenge and searched for a joke to throw at Jim Chalmers worthy of Costanza’s “well the jerk store called, and they’re running out of you”. He settled on: “Well, Mr Speaker, it's a joke getting a question about jobs from the member who was going to saddle Australians with the highest tax-to-GDP ratio in the history of the commonwealth.”

Then Albanese took the mic: “Aren’t more Australians out of work today because the Prime Minister deliberately excluded them from the JobKeeper wage subsidy?”

Scott Morrison moaned: “When Labor says they’re engaging in a bipartisan effort, it doesn’t take long, Mr Speaker, for the white-anting to begin.”

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack during Question Time. Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Meanwhile, the eyes of Mich­ael McCormack were screaming “Serenity now!” when he was asked why the government was funding Rex but not Virgin. “Finished? Can I get on with my answer? Want to hear the answer?” the Deputy PM called across the pulpit for Labor to pipe down.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt tried to bring back a sense of decor­um. He took the “Team Australia” theme and ran with it.

Or, rather, John Howard-style, power-walked. “I want to point out that my opposites, the shadow ministers, have reached out across the aisle. We have worked closely where necessary and to my state counterparts, they have put aside the red and the blue tracksuits, we’re all in the green and gold tracksuits,” he said to big laughs.

Minister for Energy Angus Taylor during of Question Time. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty

Angus Taylor was asked about the AFP’s dumped probe into that allegedly altered doc of travel costs, contained within his corres­pondence with Clover Moore.

As Seinfeld’s Newman said: “When you control the mail, you control … information.”

Then it was Labor deputy Richard Marles’s turn for a swing: “Why did the Prime Minister tell the house yesterday about his sports rorts scheme and that ‘the only authority sought from the Prime Minister’s office and from me was in relation to announcements’, when the Audit Office found the Prime Minister’s office told Senator McKenzie’s office, ‘It was expected that the minister would write to the Prime Minister to seek authority on the approved projects and inform the Prime Minister of the rollout plan’?”

Morrison replied simply: “I said it because it was true.”

Another Costanza mantra comes to mind: “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”