Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has returned to our headlines after it was discovered he had secretly sworn himself into five ministry positions without the knowledge of anyone in the party, including the ministers who actually held those positions.
As such, Aussies have been shocked and outraged at the discovery and of course, turned to memes to ‘make sense’ of the whole situation.
This tweet is unavailable or no longer exists.
This tweet is unavailable or no longer exists.
Mr Morrison was found to have sworn himself to the roles of minister for finance, treasury, health, home affairs and resources between March 2020 and May 2021.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says the former prime minister's decision showed "complete disrespect" for her party.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard said he did not agree with Mr Morrison's actions but that the move was not illegal.
Labor frontbencher Jason Clare told AAP the government would wait for advice from the solicitor-general before deciding how to prevent something similar from happening in future, such as making it mandatory to gazette such appointments.
However, on Thursday evening, it appeared Mr Morrison went on a social media frenzy on Facebook, liking and engaging with dozens of memes about his new-found roles.
Journalist Clare Armstrong shared on Twitter a compilation of all the posts the former PM engaged with:
https://twitter.com/ByClare/status/1560238634304880640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1560238634304880640%7Ctwgr%5E2f071200765f97e979e3fc9a9614c787fd9ae9f3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Faustralia-news%2F2022%2Faug%2F19%2Fmorrison-amused-by-afternoon-of-ministry-meme-merriment-but-albanese-says-its-no-joke
Many small businesses had begun editing Morrison’s face onto images of people performing jobs that their business does, or even their own staff, tagging Morrison’s official Facebook page.
The tags had gone without comment from the former PM until Thursday, when he began replying to many of them, attempting to ‘get in’ on the joke.
Morrison later responded from his page on a number of posts, asking: “What time do you need me for my first shift.”
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On one post by a mechanic, which claimed Morrison had taken a job as a ‘jack of all trades’, Morrison responded: “have a lot of experience in that gig.”
On a post by a smallgoods company, he commented: “start me in the curried meats section.”
“I’m loving these posts,” Morrison commented on another.
However, Morrison ended his spree going a step further and attempting to make his own meme, by photoshopping himself amongst the ‘Sooshi Mango’ boys.
https://twitter.com/Jo_Tovey/status/1560217362355200002/photo/1
Comments were mixed, with some commending his sense of humour on the matter, and others more critical.
“I supported you, what you did isn’t transparent and doesn’t pass the pub test,” said one Facebook user.
Interviewed on ABC television on Friday morning, Albanese was critical of Morrison’s actions.
“I think this undermining of our parliamentary system of government, of the whole Westminster system, and our democratic traditions of accountability, are things that aren’t a laughing matter,” he said.
