I have been watching our prime minister stumble through the past few months, trying to decide when to call an election.
Well, more to the point, how to pork barrel every state before the upcoming election to give him a chance to stay with the same letterbox at 109 Kirribilli Avenue, Kirribilli.
The more I have watched his antics the more he reminded me of someone, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it until the other night.
I was watching Foxtel and there was a rerun of an episode of McHale’s Navy, which was a TV series from 1962-66 about some bumbling sailors on a PT boat in World War II, somewhere in the Pacific.
There, in front of my very eyes, was my answer to who Albo reminded me of: Captain Wallace B Binghamton, the bumbling officer in charge.
It was like watching Albo in a uniform, but instead of commanding a ragtag bunch of sailors, our man is doing the same with his ministers, his party and, sadly, us.
Now, of course McHale’s Navy was fiction and a comedy.
What Albo is doing is non-fiction (well, maybe a bit of both).
The real question is, while McHale’s Navy was funny, we all knew back in the day it was made up.
What excuse have we for what’s happening today?
If it was a TV show, there would be an hilarious episode with our captain telling us about renewables, how we have to have them and it won’t impact our cost of living and it is for the greater good.
Wow, that would be riveting.
But unlike McHale’s Navy, we seem to think it is non-fiction.
Another number of episodes could be about unions.
I thought it more than a coincidence that the TV show went for four years which is the maximum time the ‘feds’ can be in charge at any one time.
Sadly for me, the TV show had, and has, way more appeal than what Canberra is dishing up.
As I said, the resemblance is amazing, and I guess for those of you not of vintage, you should check it out on YouTube.
The opposition to that show back in the 60s was F Troop.
Have a look at that and see if you can find Peter Dutton.
If it wasn’t so funny, it would be sad.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder, and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
