From Knickers the big cow to a whispered ‘G’day’, we shared some beauties. Privilege!

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A form of madness gripped the country this year. As all about us people lost their heads – over leadership, plastic bags and trips to Hong Kong – Australians on the internet, by and large, kept theirs and made comedic hay.

Usually – it is no shame to admit – Australia relies on the rest of the world for memes, but 2018 was a bumper crop for homegrown content. Fed and watered by political chaos, Australian memes grew strong and flowered. We made some real beauties – here they are.

Knickers the big cow

The list must start with the big boy. The lad who grew too large for the slaughterhouse, Knickers, the humongous unit, became an international celebrity in November, when an expertly framed TV shot shocked the world.

7 News Central Queensland (@7NewsCQ) An enormous steer in Western Australia is making headlines. At 194cm 'Knickers' is the largest in his category in Australia. Story: https://t.co/ZI472MBUU4 #7News pic.twitter.com/MDEMwEbD8R

Originally unearthed by the ABC, the massive 1.94-metre-tall Holstein Friesian steer is taller than Arnold Schwarzenegger and only 8.7cm shorter than the world record. Everyone loved him.

christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) Damn that is one huge cow. this is why I buy internet on flights. I almost saw that 6 hours after you guys did

Deirdre (@figgled) I’ve decided to die at the hands of the big cow

Matt Burke (@matttburke) Another broken promise pic.twitter.com/3DQ3XH2wqa

camdycane🎅 (@cameronwilson) Peter FitzSimons: The truth is that for the first time since Federation we don’t have a universally recognised national hero.



Me: https://t.co/ZgUStzZk0E

The laws of tall-poppy syndrome meant that he then had to weather a storm of slander. A misleading attack article from the Washington Post claimed he was somehow “a lie”, while jealous Canadians dug up their own, far less interesting big cow.

The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) The big cow is a lie. https://t.co/CMkhUGw1nY

popular 🐦 belief (@vogon) okay if the backlash to big cow is just going to be the media searching for progressively bigger cows ad infinitum I'm all for it https://t.co/xUihEWqZvF

Thankfully, Guardian Australia’s expert analysis confirmed Knickers was indeed a big, beautiful boy.

No lie, Knickers the big cow is actually quite large Read more

Mark Latham wore a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the PM’s XI

The meme that explains itself. On the fateful day of 20 January 2016, the former Labor leader wore a dirty polo shirt and oversized shorts to the prime minister’s XI – an annual invitational cricket match in Canberra.

The Twitter user @mesut_ausil saw him, and the image never left his mind. Over the next two years, he unrelenting tweeted the phrase in increasingly inspired ways, frequently wrapping in news, memes and current events.

In July @patr1ceo created a compilation of greatest hits and spread it to a wider audience.

From its origins:

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) @tfswebb Latho was at the cricket in Canberra yesterday. Almost walked past him without noticing as his clothes were ill fitting and grubby

To its development:

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) How are you going to reform Islam when you couldn't even pick out a clean shirt to wear to the cricket last year?

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) ABC stands for



Always

Bwearing a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the

Cricket in Canberra two years ago

Seasons came and went but the message stayed the same:

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) Top 10 cricket games I'v been to:



10. You

9. Can't

8. Rank

7. Them

6. They're

5. All

4. Unique

3. And

2. Good

1. The PM's XI in Canberra two years ago where I saw Mark Latham wearing a dirty polo and oversized shorts

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) Here's a handy explainer to help you understand the Mueller investigation:



Individual 1 = Mark Latham

Campaign staff = dirty polo

Russia = oversized shorts

Election = PM's XI in Canberra two years ago

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) I am calling a special party meeting to require a 2/3 vote to wear a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the PM's XI in Canberra two years ago

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) I get a lot of questions about the time I saw Mark Latham wearing a dirty polo and oversized shorts at the PM's XI in Canberra two years ago, so I have put together a FAQ to help people out pic.twitter.com/Xk537K53Ov

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) To All The Boys Who Wore A Dirty Polo And Oversized Shorts To The PM's XI In Canberra Two Years Ago

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) "Mark Latham wore a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the PM's XI in Canberra two years ago" pic.twitter.com/S2ucEuRPDK

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) My brain starts leaking out of my ear as I try to somehow relate the big cow to Mark Latham wearing a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the PM's XI in Canberra two years ago

Eventually, Latham blocked him.

“Well ... well”

The South Australian Liberal senator Lucy Gichuhi became an international meme this year with a 14-second interview.

ABC Politics (@politicsabc) When asked what she thought of @SenatorCash's comments about female staffers in Bill Shorten's office, @senatorlucy seemed lost for words... #auspol pic.twitter.com/VzBN4sC0Xg

In it, she responds to a tricky question from a reporter by saying “Well … well,” then laughs before leaving.

The footage came from February, when Gichuhi was asked about the then employment minister, Michaelia Cash, casting aspersions on young women in Bill Shorten’s office.

Gichuhi dodged the question masterfully and a meme was born. Americans picked up the video, mostly without knowing who she was, and applied it to a range of generally awkward scenarios.

john (@Scarlet4UrMa) someone: are you gay?



15 year old me: pic.twitter.com/YKcHpSCOZ8

adam (@brokeangeI) me: smoking weed hasn’t affected me at all



someone: count to 10



me: pic.twitter.com/SUoGzARpom

Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) Me: how do you feel about being a meme?



Senator Lucy Gichuhi: pic.twitter.com/6vv7Is69XA

Needles in strawberries

In September needles were found in strawberries across the country. The scare spread to other fruits, tonnes of produce were destroyed and Scott Morrison upped the jail term for food contamination to 15 years.

Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. After a few weeks, Australians began to laugh about the whole thing.

Alex Bruce-Smith (@alexbrucesmith) I realise nobody is online right now but my friend dressed up as a needle in a strawberry holy shit pic.twitter.com/99tmWFJMcI

Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) Walking back into the strawberry sesh after a tactical spew pic.twitter.com/E2zl5vdcKB

What’s the go with the au pairs?

The question that dominated August had a convoluted back story. In March it was revealed that the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, had intervened to grant visas to foreign au pairs who were about to be deported by his own department. Apart from that tantalising, bizarre fact, the government refused to release anything else. In August, questions began to mount.

Why was Dutton granting visas to au pairs but not refugees? Who uses au pairs? The intrigue could only be expressed in one all-encompassing question: “What’s the go?”

Matt Burke (@matttburke) GENIE: You have three wishes.



ME:



1. What's the go with the au pair story?

2. What's the deal with the au pair yarn?

3. Seriously, what's the go with the au pairs?

Initially driven mostly by @matttburke, the meme grew the more the government obfuscated.

Tim Stewart (@TStew777) .@PeterDutton_MP @quaedvliegs



Hey guys just getting a chain going where we can discuss what the go is with the au pairs

nina oyama (@ninaoyama) A Comprehensive Guide to Australian Slang:



Mate = friend

G’day = hi

Bloke = man

Sheila = woman

Barbie = BBQ

Arvo = afternoon

Servo = service station

Bottle O = liquor store

Flanno = flannellette shirt



What’s the go with the Au Pairs? = What’s the go with the Au Pairs?

Stephen Murray (@smurray38) My question to the panel: What is the go with the au pairs? #QandA

Tom Westland (@tomwestland) SOCRATES: The rulers, being aware that their power rests upon their wealth, refuse to curtail by law the extravagance of the spendthrift youth because they gain by their ruin...

ADEIMANTUS: Yes but the au pairs, Socrates, what's the go with them

flim flam (@cloudyellin) Don't you hate it when you spill your cereal? pic.twitter.com/VhcRHIbvDS

Eventually Guardian Australia revealed what the go actually was. There was a second au pair – and a polo player.

But the meme continued, and it now appears in Hansard numerous times.

Josh Butler (@JoshButler) Border Force boss Michael Pezzullo gives long opening statement



Labor's Murray Watt: "really there's only one question today isn't there"



[everyone waits]



"what's the go with the au pairs" pic.twitter.com/JdZueb7F47

Scott Morrison’s hats

After landing the top job in August, Australia’s new prime minister embarked on the boldest election campaign since “It’s Time” in 1972: he wore a never-ending series of new caps.

Llyod Pope’s Salad (@hamonryen) Every few weeks I find myself staring at this image like I’m at the louvre looking at the Mona Lisa pic.twitter.com/nM4ACpsy5f

Eliza Berlage 🎄 (@verbaliza) Prime minister Scott Morrison wearing caps: a photo essay pic.twitter.com/jJDjvhIqf5

Alice Workman (@workmanalice) Scott Morrison v meat pie pic.twitter.com/Im0KYaXbII

His headwear frequently combined with another meme – his terrible PR videos. There was the bizarre non-sit, the fake phone, and treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s tribute act – somehow even worse.

Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) You asked about how we're getting electricity prices down.

Here's my answer. pic.twitter.com/LFrxFLcLpR

Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) If you own your own property - under Labor’s plan, it will be worth less.



If you rent your own home - under Labor’s policy, you will pay more.



Only the Coalition can be trusted to keep your taxes low & keep the economy strong. pic.twitter.com/hxw93M5tqu

The memes merged in a video message to Mick Fanning’s mum.

Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) My thank you message to @Mick_Fanning's mum. pic.twitter.com/zpWa5CAYhy

Jennine Khalik (@jennineak) yea too bloody right mate fair dinkum cheers to me cobber mick’s mum for the hat crikey struth it’s the vibe mate onya https://t.co/SsBVKBBMjw

Honourable mention must also go to Morrison’s Fatman Scoop video and the short-lived “who fuckin’ tonight” meme.

Plastic bag ban

At the end of June, Coles and Woolworths stopped giving out free single-use plastic bags across the country. Despite South Australia, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania already having bans in place, the rest of the country lost its mind.

Angry shoppers stole bags and attacked staff, while the News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt delivered an impassioned defence of the bags in print and on TV.

The Bolt Report (@theboltreport) BOLT: What really ticks me off is the dishonesty in selling this bag ban, that's going to make shopping now so much more of a hassle. #theboltreport @SkyNewsAust



MORE: https://t.co/d7lrWf3VRS pic.twitter.com/BmVG4qKdci

Eleanor Robertson (@marrowing) it is incredibly funny to me that Andrew Bolt is going to be furious about the plastic bag ban every time he goes to the shops for the rest of his life

The collective inability to deal became a fantastic meme.

EXTREME XMAS GORDY (@GordyPls) Australians: We are better than Americans in that we handled a national firearms ban and buyback scheme with dignity and poise



Also Australians: I am completely unhinged about the supermarket not giving out free plastics bags and have decided this is the hill I’m dying on

Naaman Zhou (@naamanzhou) tfw you're down the shops and there aren't any plastic bags pic.twitter.com/a8R6rSpNzo

The absurdity ramped up in August, when Coles backflipped on the ban because customers were having such a hard time adjusting – but then backflipped on that backflip the next day after fierce criticism.

What’s wrong with this photo? NOTHING

In September Four Corners dedicated a full episode to an interview of the former Trump adviser and Breitbart editor Steve Bannon by the senior ABC reporter Sarah Ferguson.

The move split her colleagues at the ABC, with many arguing it normalised Bannon’s dangerous views and gave him a pass on his history of racism and Islamophobia, months after he had lost any role with public influence or importance.

At the same time, the New Yorker festival was facing criticism – it invited Bannon to speak but backtracked after a fierce boycott.

Ferguson defended her decision, posting a chummy photo with Bannon and a series of hashtags referencing the New Yorker controversy (#NewYorkerBoycott) and calling for open-mindedness (#stopsilos).

The brashness of the photo offended some, and for others, spawned a meme. They copied Ferguson’s phrasing and applied it to either a) other far-right figures, b) weird pairings involving two people, or c) generally displeasing images.

Tis the season to be Colley (@JamColley) What's wrong with this photo? NOTHING pic.twitter.com/dtbV8yaIGE

Matt Burke (@matttburke) What’s wrong with this photo? NOTHING #stopsilos pic.twitter.com/zb8gsMQEVM

Tiger Webb (@tfswebb) What’s wrong with this photo? NOTHING #NewYorkerFest #NewYorkerBoycott #stopsilos pic.twitter.com/8LHk8o9Uf5

TiPoole (@tip66) What’s wrong with this photo? NOTHING pic.twitter.com/Cv8lbWa4uY

I pull you close and whisper ‘G’day mate’

On the second last Monday before Christmas, the Nationals MP and assistant minister Andrew Broad delivered a horrible gift.

Broad resigned his post after New Idea magazine revealed he had inappropriately contacted a woman through a dating site while on an official trip overseas.

One message, revealed in the story, was so bizarre and cringeworthy it became a phenomenon. After asking, “Do you like Aussie accents?,” Broad followed up with, “I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper ‘Gday mate’.”

Sophie Benjamin (@sophbenj) If sexuality is a choice, why would you choose a straight Australian man, I ask you. pic.twitter.com/KxeLtuPdFg

Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) Sad to confirm the phrase “gday mate” is now cancelled. pic.twitter.com/aBU3LpdsKH

It was the perfect template.Any reference from the past 12 months could be pencilled in – a custom-made summary of the year.

Pat Carolofthebells 🎅 (@patbcaruana) I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper "fold the Gold Coast Suns and give their licence to Tasmania"

Eliza Berlage 🎄 (@verbaliza) I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper "what's the go with the au pairs?"

12 Daves of Christmas (@Mesut_Ausil) I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper "Mark Latham wore a dirty polo and oversized shorts to the PM's XI in Canberra two years ago"

The meme that got away – ‘Privilege’

Finally, here one that never took off as it should have. This phenomenon-in-waiting was posted to Twitter by the journalist Rick Morton in November – unfortunately just one day before the emergence of Knickers, who overshadowed it just as he overshadows smaller cattle.

In it, two executives from the Retail Food Group appear before a parliamentary inquiry. Pretty uninteresting. Except that, for some reason, they have been advised by their lawyer that they must say the word “privilege” every time they speak.

The Labor senator Deb O’Neil, incredibly confused, explains to them that they don’t need to. The Nationals senator John Williams adds: “Anything that is said here …you’re covered under parliamentary privilege [already].”

Tony Alford replies: “Privilege! My advice, with respect, is that I should use the term privilege prior to responding to any questions.”

Rick Morton (@SquigglyRick) Here is the clip of that exchange. It gets better, though. pic.twitter.com/fxGdz9Jbv2

And so they do: