Strewth: Fraser Anning’s territory grab in St Kilda

Territorial expansion by a politician is hardly new. Fraser Anning’s St Kilda sojourn surely fits into this tradition.

Territory grab

Territorial expansion by a politician is hardly new. We’ve seen backbencher Tony Abbott regularly busy himself with matters far beyond his Sydney electorate of Warringah. And before him, of course, we had the master himself, Kevin Rudd. Despite the apparent contentment of his backbench interlude, Rudd majestically extended the boundaries of his Brisbane electorate of Griffith to Berlin, Beijing and Washington. So successful, so indefatigable was he that we began to think of it as the pursuit of the ancient imperial dream of a greater Griffith — an empire on which the sun never set — and of Rudd himself as the Wholly Roamin’ Emperor. So the sight of Fraser Anning in St Kilda, far from the state of Queensland he is paid so handsomely to represent, surely fits into this tradition. That said, if you’re going to go for a bit of territorial expansion, perhaps don’t do it in the company of people sporting swastikas. Or SS gear. Or giving Nazi salutes. This advice takes a little added urgency if your first speech to the Senate included an Entirely Innocent use of the phrase “final solution” because, well, people might start to get the right idea.

Still, at least Anning bravely overcame his distaste for criminals to stand with a criminal, and he remembered to bill the taxpayer.

Say it with music

We vaguely recall a standard letter that satirical British magazine Private Eye used to respond to complaints. The language was polite to the point of dullness but it sat beneath a letterhead spiced up with a cartoon of people queuing at a cinema to see a film whose name was spelt out in big letters on the marquee: “GO F..K YOURSELF”. Such were the days when correspondence was still cherished as an art form. Anyway, in the wake of St Kilda it’s nice to see that the spirit lingers on in the form of a Facebook post from punk rock band Cosmic Psychos (original name: Spring Plains): “We have been made aware of a photo circulating from the far-right rally in St Kilda today of a man wearing a Psychos T-shirt and holding an SS helmet. The Cosmic Psychos do not condone any form of racism, exclusion, violence or hate. Nazis, there’s a place where you belong.” And attached to these entirely reasonable words is the video clip for the Cosmic Psychos song F..kwit City.

All apologies

And so to Townsville, where the LNP’s candidate for Herbert, Phillip Thompson, has joined that richest of 21st-century traditions: apologising for something he posted on social media years earlier. In this case it was a 2012 Facebook effort in which he alluded to getting a gun licence and visiting some Muslims. The former soldier and Queensland Young Australian of the Year has been so busy saying sorry, the part of his brain responsible for generating remorse is probably growing biceps. It shows how far things have come in the seat of Herbert. The most unsettling thing the seat’s last federal LNP representative, Ewen Jones, said was “pash rash”.

In a few words

Having subjected you to some uncouth language today, let Strewth reward your forbearance with a cracking job application. It was shared yesterday by Letters of Note for International Screenwriters Day, and was penned in 1934 by a young Robert Pirosh: “Dear Sir: I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave ‘V’ words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land’s-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon. I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp. I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around. I have just returned and I still like words. May I have a few with you?” It did the trick. Pirosh got a gig with MGM and, eventually, an Oscar.

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