Casual racism is OK in Oz

Joe Hockey injected some casual racism into parliamentary debate the other day.

Hockey - Douche

Trying to mock Treasurer Wayne Swan for winning the Euromoney ‘Finance Minister of the Year’ award, Hockey read out a list of the nationalities of previous recipients, and appeared particularly unimpressed about some of them "Slovakian ministers, a Serbian, a Nigerian and a Bulgarian. In 2001 there was a Pakistani finance minister. That is quite an extraordinary one, that one."

Yes, these are quite extraordinary individuals. As pointed out by Bernard Keane on Crikey, Shaukat Aziz -- later Pakistani Prime Minister -- was lauded for a consolidation of Pakistan's previously shambolic public finances, something the IMF singled him out for praise over. 

To the current crop of post-Howard Libs “Pakistan is, perhaps inherently funny?” posits Keane.

As for "a Nigerian", well, that was only Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who then became managing director of the World Bank for four years. Doesn’t count, though, ‘cos she’s black, innit? (that’s right – she – wonder what Bill Heffernan thought about that one).

The Bulgarian cabinet... according to the Coalition

Hockey omitted Jim Flaherty, Finance Minister in Stephen Harper's right-wing Canadian government. Perhaps it wouldn't be sporting to mock a fellow Tory. The 2010 winner was a Russian (Alexei Kudrin). Maybe Russia is too big a fish to pick on?


Serbian (Mljadan Dinkic), Slovak (IIvan Miklos) and Bulgarian (Milen Veltchev) winners might have escaped ridicule had their names been less ... you know ... foreigny sounding. Not many names like that on the northern beaches, are there, big fella?

Wyatt - wrong party perhaps?

What’s more extraordinary, and not mentioned by BK - sitting behind the front bench is none other than WA MP Ken Wyatt, the first ever indigenous member of the lower house (no doubt positioned there to showcase the Coalition’s cred on these matters), who can be seen chuckling throughout the tirade.

You really can't make this stuff up.

RNOW canvassed the opinions of two Blackstump residents. 


Small business owner and tattoo enthusiast John ‘Johnno’ Johnson doesn’t see the big deal, saying “I’ve never heard of these places” before contributing “Swan’s a commie c*unt, anyway”.

Meanwhile Dr Jacqueline Heartbleed of the Littlepoint Research institute and author of Lesbian Seagulls - Minorities in the Digital Age decried the comments as “unacceptable to all these poor poor minority countries. We should immediately send aid to Slovakia, Serbia and Bulgaria”.

Thankfully Lib MP Christopher Pyne (left) was unavailable for comment. 

(Thanks to Crikey's BK for reporting this in a more serious manner)