1. Sussan soaked
Ley was coming to Sky News live from Leeton, in the NSW Riverina region, on Wednesday to criticise the performance of Labor treasurer Jim Chalmers and his mid-year economic update – when she had to duck out of frame quickly. The Sky host, Peter Stefanovic, looked entirely puzzled as his guest quickly dashed off screen, before the water mist became more visible.
Ley, perhaps used to anticipating potential challenges and threats as a long-time politician, had been glancing at something out of the corner of her eye – which we imagine was a sprinkler jet starting to whir into life.
The Sky camera panned to where Ley had fled, as she said: “sorry Pete, we’ve just got the sprinkler starting.”
“When the sprinkler starts, you probably have to move.”
Ley went on to make light of the unexpected interlude.
“I’m here, Pete, the sprinklers on the amazing lawn in front of the War Memorial in Leeton in the Riverina just turned on and I got soaked,” she said.
Host Stefanovic joked: “Yeah, has anyone checked on [Labor treasurer] Jim Chalmers, did he turn the tap on?”
2. Palmer puddles
It brought to mind another immortal sprinkler episode, this time from the very heart of Parliament House. One-time federal MP and mining magnate Clive Palmer held a press conference in 2018 to announce his United Australia party’s plans to contest the next election, and confirm the defection of former One Nation senator Brian Burston into the party’s ranks – but the media event was derailed when the sprinklers in the courtyard switched on, drenching Palmer and the waiting media pack.
“We’ve got to call it quits,” Palmer said, as those assembled ducked for cover. SBS later reported the Department of Parliamentary Services blamed “human error” for the press conference soaking, claiming a gardener “mistakenly manually operated the wrong valve” while testing the irrigation system.
UAP failed to win any seats at the following election, but now boasts senator Ralph Babet as its sole federal representative.
3. Six points, zero recall
Although it doesn’t compare to arguably the most famous press conference gaffe of them all, with one-time Liberal candidate Jaymes Diaz failing to list a single point of Tony Abbott’s plan to “stop the boats”. It was also a six-point plan, Diaz remembered, even if he couldn’t give Ten News reporter John Hill even one of the six.
4. Sign of the times
A common theme through our list is the fine art of political advancing; that is, staffers checking out the scene ahead of time to scope out the best spots for pictures, the best route to walk through the area, and pre-planning the people involved. It’s also about looking out for any pitfalls or potential embarrassments along the way.
Something went wrong on Tony Abbott’s media outing to a Canberra shopping centre in 2015, as the then-prime minister wandered past an outlet of The Reject Shop – giving waiting photographers a free slam dunk.
Abbott was deposed as PM by Malcolm Turnbull just a few short months later.
5. Get off my lawn
Sometimes it’s about spatial awareness. Sometimes it’s about noticing you’ve set up for a press conference on a recently re-seeded lawn out the front of an unsuspecting voter’s home.
So it was when Morrison, now the PM, held an event in Googong to spruik the Coalition’s home builder scheme. The resident of an already built home, however, wasn’t too happy at the press pack standing on his grass.
6. “Well… well…”
Often, a politician says it best when they say nothing at all. Sometimes they say it best with their facial expressions. Enter, the short-lived political career of South Australian senator Lucy Gichuhi, who had an unconventional time in parliament by entering on a recount after her Family First colleague Bob Day was disqualified, then choosing to sit as an independent, then switch to the Liberal party.
It was her new colleagues in the then-government who led to her most famous moment in Canberra though, as Gichuhi was asked about comments from Michaelia Cash, who said in a heated exchange that she was “happy to sit here and name every young woman in Mr Shorten’s office over which rumours in this place abound”.
Asked about those comments, which came just weeks after Gichuhi joined the Liberals, the senator… well… see for yourself.
7. A little birdie
Often, a politician says it best when they say nothing at all. Sometimes it’s with a rude hand gesture that shocked even their staffers.
The ACT Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee apologised for raising her middle finger at a journalist after a heated news conference just before the territory’s election, calling it a “moment of frustration” on the campaign trail.
Following a discussion with a reporter about the opposition’s policy costings, Lee walked a short distance from the microphones to join a group of waiting staff, before turning around and appearing to make a face at the journalist, then briefly flashing a middle finger toward him.
Several of Lee’s staff appeared surprised at the gesture, in full view of the cameras. One staff member called back toward the media pack “thank you”.
8. A bunch of…
And just to finish up back on Abbott, there’s a few reasons why politicians are sometimes wary of holding media opportunities backing onto a major road – car and truck noise, movement in the back of camera shots, and random punters yelling from their moving vehicles.
