Laughter, rage and tears: Parliament unleashed

Updated

Watching parliamentary proceedings can be a rather dull affair. A professional slanging match with no resolution in sight, the unkind might say.

But every now and then Australia's Parliament delivers great moments in sparkling repartee.

It can be the place where our elected officials reveal dark moments of the soul, lay their emotions bare and demonstrate their wit and debating smarts.

Politics can be the best free theatre you will ever witness, and Australia's Parliament can really hold its own. Here is a collection of choice moments:

Peter Costello impersonates Peter Garrett's moves (2006)

What's happening here: Then-Treasurer Peter Costello draws a parallel between the rent paid by a government department (the Australian National Audit Office) for a Labor-owned building and Midnight Oil's hit song Beds are Burning (which former MP Peter Garrett sung as the band's frontman). However, not everybody appreciated Mr Costello's joke - the original song was a call for Indigenous reconciliation.

Pauline Hanson claims Australia 'swamped by Asians' (1996)

What's happening here: Pauline Hanson, the controversial former MP whose racial views divided Australia, gives her maiden speech to the Parliament calling for an end to multiculturalism, foreign aid and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. It was the start of a political career steeped in drama for Ms Hanson, who was later jailed for electoral fraud - a conviction overturned on appeal.

Trailblazing Nova Peris's heartbreaking family history (2013)

What's happening here: Nova Peris - a decorated Australian Olympian - has the dual honour of being both the first Indigenous Australian to win Olympic gold and being the first Indigenous Australian woman elected to Federal Parliament. In an emotional speech, Senator Peris weeps as she describes her mother's removal from her family as a member of the Stolen Generations.

Cardboard Kevin Rudd ejected from House of Reps (2008)

What's happening here: After declaring an additional parliamentary sitting day amid a flurry of changes when first elected PM, Kevin Rudd fails to show up for the first such sitting day (in his defence, he was visiting flood victims). The Coalition capitalises with 'Cardboard Kev', who fails to impress then-deputy speaker Anna Burke. She orders the "offensive article" be removed from the chamber.

Julia Gillard brands Tony Abbott a misogynist (2012)

What's happening here: Former PM Julia Gillard takes aim at then-opposition leader Tony Abbott, alleging a pattern of misogyny. The speech followed Mr Abbott's call for Ms Gillard's government to drop support for former speaker Peter Slipper after he allegedly sent lurid text messages. The speech is now the most-watched ABC News YouTube video ever at 2.5 million views, and generated a slew of headlines worldwide.

Tony Abbott reaches across the 'political trench' (2013)

What's happening here: Tony Abbott praises the contribution of retiring Labor minister Martin Ferguson as he recognises the role of the Labor Party he will later comprehensively defeat. Despite its obvious calculated political dig at Julia Gillard's leadership, it's hard not to be moved by the humanity of the moment - and proof that ideology is rarely black and white for even the most strident of political warriors.

Craig Thomson told to 'hang himself' and 'cut wrists' (2012)

What's happening here: Embattled former Labor MP Craig Thomson finally breaks his silence following waves of corruption, fraud and sleaze allegations centring on his time as national secretary of the Health Services Union. But few were prepared for the opening stanzas of his speech, revealing the toxic, feral vitriol sometimes directed at members of Parliament and their families.

Mary Jo Fisher does the 'Carbon Tax Hokey Pokey' (2011)

What's happening here: Former Senator Mary Jo Fisher enlivens the Upper House by dancing around the issue of the carbon tax - complete with pelvic thrust. The moves also thrust her into the media spotlight. Months later Senator Fisher announced she would quit politics following a shoplifting allegation.

Kevin Rudd struggles to draw line under Federal career (2013)

What's happening here: Kevin Rudd, the two-time PM who led Labor out of the political wilderness, calls it quits after 15 years in Federal Parliament. The man referred to by some in the press pack as the 'Rudd-bot' for his speeches high in 'programmatic specificity' proves he can speak from the heart as he describes the toll politics has had on his family, evoking similarly emotional responses from the Opposition.

Greg Combet turns politics into a horse race... literally (2012)

What's happening here: Former climate change minister Greg Combet turns the tables on a Tony Abbott carbon tax question with an assurance sport and recreation activities have not had price hikes. After comparing the Coalition's campaign against carbon pricing to an historic horse scandal, Mr Combet proceeds to call supposed tensions within the Liberal Party as if a horse race.

Topics: federal-parliament, offbeat, race-relations, australia

First posted