“You have always done the right thing by your country,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison cooed in the direction of retiring shock jock and furious turtle/human hybrid Alan Jones this morning.
But which of Jones’ many contributions to public life in Australia could Morrison be referring to?
Could it be his assertion — broadcast to his largely elderly audience from his country estate — that the panic around coronovirus was exaggerated?
His casual use of racial slurs?
Or perhaps Morrison means the time Jones said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern should have a sock “shoved down her throat”?
It’s probably not the time he told a group of University of Sydney young libs that then-prime minister Julia Gillard’s recently deceased father had died of shame, given that wasn’t meant for public consumption. His stated desire to put Gillard in a chaff bag and dump her in the ocean was on air, so maybe it’s that?
Maybe it’s the hundreds of thousands of dollars he’s put into the economy in defamation payouts? Then again, Morrison’s a locally-minded politician, so we suspect what he actually means is all the work Jones did to put Cronulla (in the east of Morrison’s electorate of Cook) and all the “Middle Eastern grubs” who lived there on the map in 2005.
Of course, putting Morrison in the shade as the most staggering response to the news was that of ABC’s Media Watch — a show, in case you need reminding, about holding powerful voices to account and revealing dishonesty and irresponsible journalism, and which broke the cash for comment story:
If this was intended as deadpan irony, it categorically failed to land, and regardless, it’s well established that Twitter is not the format for deadpan irony.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese was also in a generous mood, saying “we have political differences, but on a personal level you’re someone I respect”.
Readers, we simply can’t narrow it down — help us decide by letting us know your favourite Jones moment.
His most interesting appearance was when Anh Do painted him. He was a very different persona – an old gay dandy chuffed at getting his painting done on the telly.
Suing Chris Masters partly over gay revelations or what Philip Adams described as Sydney’s worst kept secret.
The chaff bag was the not just the most disgraceful in itself but the lack of action against him the worst ever example of political gutlessness in this country. He publicly called for the serving prime minister to be murdered and he meant it. Then – nothing. My consolation is that his demise will be mourned ever so briefly.
Don’t forget the gutless ABC management, who rejected their own journalist,Chris Masters, from publishing his book on Jones through ABC Books.
Their excuse was apparently they didn’t think it was commercially viable. Another publisher gratefully won the rights, and it sold like hot cakes.
I don’t live in Sydney, so did not have to decide NOT to listen to him each morning. However his assertions over climate change has put Australia back 10 years, and that cannot be forgotten, nor forgiven.
His loss to the Wagners was also justice a long time coming.
There will be some who will miss him, mostly the same people who read Murdoch. Old, White, Racist,Bigots,Misogynists.
Nice people won’t, they will be glad to see him go.
Rayh, those last three sentences, just lovely.
Maybe it was the times Gloria used his high profile media presence to show us all how to hold a PR pistol to the heads of Qantas and Optus – holstering it in return for cash for his positive PR/publicity comment?
Any wonder fellow fossil fuel tout Scotty From Marketing would admire him so.
Every time I see that picture (used here today) I think of “America’s Cutest Pussy – Surprise Kitty!” (You Tube).
A couple of my more favorite Jones moments were when he was arrested in London in the ’70s
for hanging around the boys toilets, and when he was thrown out of the Kings School for “inappropriate
behavior towards the boys”. And then of course there were all the multiple times he lost defamation
cases as a result of some of his many vendettas and character assassinations. The list goes on….
Jones departure has to be my favourite!!!
Tick!
Ok Placedo. Beat me to it. Only one Jones moment, his departure. Reminds me of the saying that “everyone brings happiness, some on their arrival and some on their departure.”