Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm not usually one to ham it up, but the cat has been let out of the bag. We have reports of an organised campaign to change the way Australians speak by removing meat related metaphors. A campaign from the registered charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seeks to remove phrases like 'bringing home the bacon' and 'putting your eggs in one basket', because they offend vegans and vegetarians. It's beyond a joke; it's pathetic. I was shocked to learn that this forms part of the gender debate in this country, with one academic arguing for change saying, 'Meat is power and meat is for men.' Well, fair suck of the sav!

Surely in this country we have bigger fish to fry than banning harmless descriptions. But these turkeys need to be called out early. Our goose is not yet cooked. I'm not replacing 'all my eggs in one basket' with 'all your berries in a bowl' or replacing 'flog a dead horse' with 'feed a fed horse'. Ironically, that's a quick way to kill one. I will continue to take the bull by the horns and try to kill two birds with one stone, and there will always be more than one way to skin a cat. Long may the sensible and pragmatic outnumber the pork chops who, on this one, are quite clearly flogging a dead horse.

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