The Worst People You Know Had An Unofficial Debate On Sky News Last Night

Ahead of the national debate between Antony Albanese and Scott Morrison in Brisbane tonight, a very different debate took place yesterday between some of the worst people in Australian politics.

In a nightmare blunt rotation, Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer, Campbell Newman, and Bob Katter all sat down together for Sky New’s unofficial ‘Maverick’s’ debate on Paul Murray Live.

Sadly, what was promoted ahead of the event to be no-holds-barred free for all turned out to be a hour-long right-wing circle jerk, with all participants violently brimming with hubris that their prospective parties would decide the balance of power in Queensland and thus the country.

The debate started with Paul Murray’s abrasive klaxon “Let’s say it together: 32 days to save the country from the mad left”.

The first topic on the agenda was preferencing, with an audience member questioning Clive Palmer’s decision to list some candidates of the Labor Party ahead of the Coalition on official UAP “how-to-vote” cards for the House of Representatives.

Palmer’s reply was typical of the sentiment which currently stands on the vast number of UAP billboards across the country, telling the studio audience that “we see that the whole political class, Liberal, Labor and the Greens has deserted the Australia people”.

Despite Palmer’s history of literally not showing up for work after his notorious absenteeism saw him miss more parliamentary sessions than any other MP when he was a senator back in 2014, much of Palmer’s response was rooted in the rhetorical that “all of them are as bad as each other”.

Next, the microphone was passed to Campbell Newman, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who articulated the shared party history of his fellow panellists. “We were all in the liberal or national parties in the past, so we’re here in one respect because we’re upset about the betrayal of those liberal party or national party values,” Newman said.

Indeed, despite Campbell Newman becoming Premier of Queensland in 2012 after leading the Nationals in a landslide victory, he would be turfed from both his seat and office three years later after his reputation as a “draconian villain” stuck after policies like public sector job cuts and dangerously expansive anti-bike laws.

Pauline Hanson made slight references to her YouTube series in response to the question about political preference votes.

“I’ve put my money where my mouth is and I’ve tried to educate the public that they own their preferences, it’s not the political parties – they’re only recommendations.”

Hanson, who spent eleven days in jail back in 2003 after initially being convicted of electoral fraud, would later blast vaccine mandates, telling the audience that “I will not have a politician tell me what goes into my body!”

The most surprising thing to come out of the maverick’s debate was how hesitant all panellists were about attacking or debating each other’s policies. After being asked directly by host Paul Murray what the “biggest lie” anyone on the panel had said about him, Palmer stated any criticism was “like water off a duck’s back” and actually used the question to compliment each of his fellow politicians on the debate in turn.

Tonight, Scott Morrison and Antony Albanese will head to Brisbane for the first national debate for the Federal Election. Queensland is once again a crucial state for both Labor and the Coalition, with the Opposition needing to win seats in the Sunshine State to have a chance at victory.

The relative calm displayed by the ‘mavericks’ of Australian right-wing politics last night seems to suggest that whoever of the two major parties wins the struggle for power in Queensland, fringe right-wing groups like the United Australia Party and The Liberal Democrats will be content with any increase to their base vote.