Albo’s birthday cake surprise was Liberal spin after losing Dunkley

The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Albo to his mates, had a birthday last weekend and the only gift he wanted was a win in the federal by-election in the seat of Dunkley. It was to be held in Victoria that same weekend.

A by-election is when the public vote in a single federal electorate* to elect a new sitting member* to represent that seat due to the death, resignation*, illness or other reasons the sitting member cannot continue to hold.

The result was that Albo did get his birthday wish, with his candidate* Jodie Belyea winning it for Labor, albeit with a small 3.5 per cent swing to the Liberals.

There was much celebration among the red shirts* at Labor HQ. But if you watched the coverage of the by-election, you would have been confused about who actually won, because all the Liberals gathered at their HQ were partying just as hard and fist pumping the air over the result.

Deputy Liberal Leader Susan Ley was cock-a-hoop* with the Liberal Party’s performance and exclaimed to a rowdy bunch of Liberal devotees* that Albo’s birthday was ruined.

“The voters of Dunkley had sent the Prime Minister a message loud and clear!” she said.

Loud cheers ensued*. Um?

I thought the message was a fairly plain “yeah/nah” from the people of Dunkley to the Liberal Party, but apparently when dissected* and put under the microscope for analysis down at the Lib’s lab, the message was a slap in the face to Albo’s government and the 3 per cent swing was evidence of the green shoots* of a Liberal resurgence*!

Watching the Deputy Liberal Leader promote this as a great result for the party was like a smiling used car dealer in a shiny suit telling you that this car is unbelievable value at the price, just ignore the pool of oil underneath. In politics it’s called “spin” and the Libs were spinning the loss as best they could.

A cartoon for the next day’s paper was in order, so I set about trying to illustrate the Liberal reaction to the loss in Dunkley.

I thought I would focus on Susan Ley’s claim that the PM’s birthday had been ruined by the result. I imagined her surprising Mr Albanese by jumping out of a huge birthday cake with the news of the by-election.

The drawing would have to be in two panels because I wanted to compare the two conflicting* interpretations of the election result: the Liberal Party’s version that it was a boost for them and the Labor version that they won the vote. So the first panel would be Ms Ley bursting out of the cake, candles and icing flying everywhere. This spectacle* is a huge surprise to the PM and he sits there looking shocked as the Deputy Liberal Leader prepares to deliver the devastating message from the voters of Dunkley.

The second panel of the cartoon will be the delivery of the message. And when all is said and done, the message is that Albo won.

A deflated* Susan Ley, in a deflated looking cake, delivers the sad truth for the conservatives. No matter how much analysis of the result, or how many ways you look at it or spin it, Labor won a by-election despite tough political times, high interest rates, cost of living pressures and a housing shortage, and the Liberal alternative was rejected. End of story.

Cake, anyone?

POLL

GLOSSARY

• electorate: geographically defined areas represented by a single elected Member of Parliament
• sitting member: current Member of Parliament
• resignation: telling your employer – or in this case constituents – that you are leaving your job
• candidate: person who is competing to get a job or to be elected to a position
• red shirts: political attire representing the Labor Party’s identifying colour – Liberals wear blue
• cock-a-hoop: extremely happy and excited about something, very pleased and triumphant
• devotees: ardent followers, very keen supporters, committed enthusiasts
• ensued: followed, resulted, developed
• dissected: examined or taken apart and studied in detail
• green shoots: an expression meaning signs of growth, renewal, recovery and cause for optimism
• resurgence: renewal, revival, increase or recovery after a period of little action or activity
• conflicting: when beliefs, needs or facts are very different and cannot both be true
• spectacle: show, performance, exhibition
• deflated: let down, emptied out

EXTRA READING

Navy flying high after dizzying win

PM’s Valentine’s Day proposal

Albo out as detention gates open

QUICK QUIZ

1. What is a by-election?
2. What was the special event for the PM that coincided with the by-election last weekend?
3. What was the percentage swing to the Liberal Party in the by-election?
4. Who declared the PM’s birthday was ruined at a Liberal Party event and what position does she hold?
5. Which candidate won the by-election and for which party?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What happens next?
Imagine this cartoon is part of a story that is made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell a complete story, and Mark’s cartoon is the start of the story. Think about what the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Being able to draw is only one of the skills needed to be a great cartoonist. Write a list of all of the other skills that you think cartoonists like Mark need to do their job.

Next to each skill, write a sentence that explains why that skill is important or helps them to do a great job.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability, Media Arts, Visual Communication Design

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.