Scott Morrison channelled Sacha Baron Cohen. For our series Explain It To Me Quickly, one Guardian Australia staffer asked another to explain why … quickly

Very nice? Why the Australian PM did a Borat impression in parliament

I’m seeing a lot of Borat jokes on Twitter today, centuries after Borat was a thing. Why?

Because the prime minister of Australia, days before he was expected to announce an election, performed a Borat impression in parliament.

He imitated the voice and mannerisms of the comedy character at the centre of the 2006 film to say that something was “very nice, very nice” (including hand gestures).



Borat, of course, is a fictional, small-town Kazakh journalist, portrayed by the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen on Da Ali G Show and in the mockumentary that bears his name. His thick, inaccurate accent is best remembered in such phrases as “My wife”, and the aforementioned “very nice”.

I’m going to need more context.

The Borat voice – and further references to a “Borat tax” – were part of a debate on carbon emissions, which will likely dominate the upcoming election.

The Labor party had proposed a system in which companies that polluted over a certain limit would have to buy carbon credits from companies that were under the limit. The credits could be bought from Australia or overseas.

According to the prime minister, this meant companies would be buying credits “from Kazakhstan”. And thus his line: “I know what Borat would think of Labor’s policies on emissions reduction: ‘very nice, very nice’.”

Much like the film Borat, this joke only works if one accepts the premise that Kazakhstan is inherently bad or funny. When he said Labor’s policy was “very nice”, he in fact did not mean that it was “very nice”.

What are the specifics of this carbon policy – which is being described as an extension of a cap and trade system?

MY WIIIIIFE.

What are the specifics of this carbon policy – which is being described as an extension of a cap and trade system?

Roughly 250 large companies would be affected if Labor won government. Its policy is an extension on an existing system, devised by the Coalition, known as the “safeguard mechanism”, which has an existing cap of 100 kilotonnes of CO2 a year. Labor would lower that cap to 25 kilotonnes. It would also spread the scheme to the aviation, mining, cement, steel and aluminium sectors.

Making companies buy credits, the argument goes, would financially incentivise them to reduce emissions, and reward those that already have.

Why Borat though?

Morrison is operating under the assumption that, over the past 13 years, Borat has only become stronger and more embedded in the Australian cultural consciousness.

In many respects he has, but mostly as an overused and cringeworthy “dad joke”, or, among some circles (read: Twitter), as shorthand for “ya basic”. Sadly, Kazakhstan hasn’t been able to shake its association with the fictional character.

Borat crops up with surprising regularity among politicians. Last year, the Labor MP Ed Husic referenced Borat when talking about Australia’s internet being too slow. “We’ve gotten to a point where our download speeds in Australia are slower than in Kazakhstan,” he said. “We have Borat broadband in this country.”

In 2012, the Liberal MP Greg Hunt said almost exactly the same thing as Morrison on Wednesday. “Carbon credits are going to come from China and Kazakhstan, among other places,” he said. “I love Borat but I would not be buying 94m tonnes of carbon credits from Borat and his friends.”

Was it a good impression?

My professional opinion is that it was hurried and shameful. His voice caught multiple times in the sheer excitement of delivering it. He also said “Borat” too many times in the lead-up – the anxiety showing through – as if we wouldn’t understand or know what he meant when he landed the punchline.

What does the Kazakh government think?

The Kazakh consulate-general in Australia said it had no comment.

But back in 2006, the government in Astana took out a four-page colour spread in the New York Times to challenge the negative stereotypes of their country portrayed in Borat.

Why is our prime minister so embarrassing?

Elections frequently bring out the worst in politicians and their ineptitude at tapping into pop culture. This week’s announcement of the budget came with a widely panned AC/DC reference, “back in black”. Last year, the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was unable to name an AC/DC song.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has also been mocked over his limp jokes – now ironically known as Shorten zingers. Last election campaign, he asked a confused voter “what’s your favourite type of lettuce?”

What are people saying?

Critics have pointed out not just that the joke is lame – but that it is rooted in a childish sense of poking fun at another nation for having a funny name. There’s also the broader point that politicians purposely use this kind of daggy humour to distract from the real-world power they wield, and the implications of their policies. That is, he’s not an embarrassing dad – he’s the prime minister dodging a pertinent question on what’s happening to the country.

Tim Beshara (@Tim_Beshara) This was the question that drew the Borat pre-planned joke from the child Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/YCABLIDcHs

Myriam Robin (@myriamrobin) I was at school when Borat came out and all the guys in class kept quoting it and they wouldn’t stop and it was a very dark time in my life. Please no more talk of the bad movie

Tim Stephens (@ProfTimStephens) Prime Minister Morrison quotes Borat to attack the ALP’s climate policy. Classy. https://t.co/D1cAbT07ii

Jordan Raskopoulos (@JordanRasko) Even Sacha Baron Cohen has stopped doing Borat impressions.

• Naaman Zhou answered Steph Harmon’s questions