Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If parliament were a James Bond film, who would the protagonist be? The PM is James Bond, of course—the Sean Connery version, with humble working-class beginnings, old-school sensibility and a long career in high office. What about the arch-villain? The Leader of the Opposition has a striking temperamental alignment with Dr No. But, in many ways, it's the villain's accomplice that is the most interesting figure. The most famous was Oddjob. Who's the accomplice? The Leader of the Greens, of course, assisting Dr No in delaying important legislation. Why? First, 'Oddjob' is a name very amenable to hyphenation: 'Hello, I'm Odd-job.' Second, Oddjob's signature tool, the top hat, is the perfect embodiment of the modern inner-city Green, unconcerned with cost of living. The top hat used by Oddjob was manufactured by Lock & Co. to be particularly rigid and stiff, like the Greens' ideological stance. This is reflected in opposition to Help to Buy, build-to-rent and HAFF—delayed for many months. Half of these are in the Greens' own manifesto. The Greens never saw a housing policy or a project in their own patch they didn't want to block. But fear not, PM. MythBusters actually tested the impact of Oddjob's hat and found that it bounced off the head of the statue in the real world. The bills eventually pass. The budget measures actually help people in need. As MythBusters showed, ideological purity and attention-seeking don't actually achieve anything in the long run.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.