Maybe I watch too much parliament (my wife would probably say I do), but it’s astonishing how people can watch this video clip and not see what is actually happening.
Firstly, Pyne referred to the Leader of The Opposition by his name (Bill Shorten), which is unparliamentary. The Manager of Opposition Business then got up to object to that, but the Speaker had already spotted it and sat him down so that she could direct Pyne to use the proper forms of address.
Pyne makes his controversial comment in between the Speaker telling the Manager of Opposition Business to sit down and her telling Pyne to refer to ministers by their proper titles. Her direction to Pyne was about him saying “Bill Shorten”, not anything else.
Do people really think that if the Speaker (and therefore the Opposition Leader and probably some of the Opposition front bench) had heard Pyne call Shorten a c–t that she would have calmly asked him to withdraw and everyone would have left it at that? Anyone who thinks that hasn’t watched much parliament.
Look, people can disagree on what Pyne said. It’s one of those things where if you watch it thinking he’s saying grub, it sounds like he is, and if you think he’s saying c–t it sounds like he is. What we have here is a mondegreen:
But if you want to believe that Pyne really said c–t, then you have to also believe that NO ONE heard him say it other than the microphone. Otherwise the video makes no sense
