Barnaby Attacks Journalists

From The Australian:

Barnaby Joyce has lambasted the Canberra press gallery for attacks on his use of language, accusing journalists of unfairness and exhibiting double standards.

The Queensland senator yesterday accused journalists of speaking a language that he dubbed “lingua Canberra” and of marginalising him for spurning their tongue and communicating as an average person.

He also compared Parliament House to a boarding school inhabited by people whose idea of what was important had virtually no relevance to the community.

“I’m not painted in the colours that they like,” Senator Joyce told The Australian yesterday.

On Tuesday, the Queenslander sparked more outrage by joking that, while many farmers read reports of the Productivity Commission, he used them when he ran out of toilet paper.

After a torrid ABC radio interview on the toilet paper comment yesterday morning, Senator Joyce told The Australian he was frustrated that journalists who often complained about “cardboard cut-out pollies” who would not answer questions felt free to attack him for answering their questions in terms “people on the street” could understand.

“Apparently that is more contemptible than giving the cardboard cut-out answer,” he said.

Journalists seemed to ignore anything of substance that he said in their pursuit of short quips or colourful phrases to blow out of proportion. “They want to make the minutiae of one statement the generality of who I am,” he said. “That’s life, I realise that.

Senator Joyce said that, although Kevin Rudd had mastered the art of talking without saying anything, he would never embrace a similar style and would remain authentic.

Barnaby has also spoken out in his usual frank and colourful fashion today, on reports that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be receiving acting lessons to help tone down a supposedly ‘too aggressive” image:

“The thing people like about Tony is the real deal,” he told Sky News.

“People on the street want reality but they don’t want pretend.

“They will smell it like dog poo on the shoes if they think it’s not the real deal.”

Barnaby is right.

Tags: all good, barnaby joyce, champion, dog poo on shoes, double standards, go you good thing, legend, lingua canberra, media bias, press gallery, tony abbott