Imagine my delight, in opening up a recent Catholic Weekly, only to find TIA (the inevitable Albo) on the front page. He was in attendance at a blessing of the tragic Abdallah and Sakr families, who lost several children in an awful and infamous car accident in Oatlands, Sydney in February 2020.
Albo was there!
It was TIA’s third appearance in a non-political setting over the past week or so. At least the third. I don’t keep count. There were probably more. One was his beaming appearance with his girlfriend, now fiancé, to celebrate a political engagement.
The other appearance by non-political Albo saw him sporting a Newtown Jets rugby league jumper, as thoughts turned to expanding the number of teams in the National Rugby League There was talk of bringing back some old, so-called “heritage” clubs. Sorry, franchises. We don’t have “clubs” or “teams” these days.
One word immediately sprang to mind, on seeing kitted-out Albo. Cosplay. Albanese is engaging in serial political cosplay, in turbo-charging his non-political side. And why wouldn’t he? His political life is in the toilet. This embarrassment of a PM almost daily sets new standards in how not to be a first term national leader. Talk about squandering your non-mandate. He is everywhere looking for things to do and say that will hopefully make people forget what his day-job is.
What is cosplay?
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.
He probably should get an OnlyFans or a Patreon website. Monetise his moonlighting.
Of course, Airbus Albo’s outfit de rigeur is the akubra hat, a favourite costume. He isn’t the first donning Australia’s preferred topper, of course. John Howard led that charge. Bob Hawke famously donned a funny jacket after we won the America’s Cup in 1983.
Bush 43 infamously pulled on a bomber jacket every chance he could, following in the footsteps of Bush 41. Interestingly, for a decidedly non-military man. (Admittedly he simply wore a suit when he declared victory in Iraq on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, several years before the Americans traipsed off, armed with anything but victory).
And everyone is familiar with the colourful shirts worn in political group photos at the conclusion of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and similar meetings on some distant island. Hard-hats are a traditional form of headdress for the attention-seeking pollie, generally worn when visiting a factory. A high-vis jacket generally completes the uniform. (And everyone remembers Abbo’s speedos and fire brigade gear. Of course, in Tony’s case, he wasn’t pretending to be something he wasn’t. Unusually. It wasn’t performative at all. Which recalls for us all that Abbott was the last authentic politician we had).
The great cartoonist, Johannes Leak, has captured mercilessly another of Albo’s faves, the Yes Vote t-shirt. Voice. Treaty. Truth. Slowing disappearing, one by one.
Michael Smith pointed out in August 2023 that Albo one day even became a miner (of all things, given his Government is trying its best to kill the industry stone dead).
Inner suburban left-wing hater Anthony Albanese continued his photo-opportunity tour of Australia today.
He went to outback WA where he dressed up as a mine worker, even got his own clobber with his name embroidered - for added authenticity.
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/08/man-who-hates-mining-dresses-up-as-a-miner.html
He was quite a sight, “Anthony” of Rio Tinto. Smith continued:
But he didn’t get dirty and had a fresh face of TV make up.
It’s worth remembering that ‘knockabout bloke’ Anthony has never made a product or service in his life that anyone has ever wanted.
He’s a hate-fueled community agitator by profession …fiercely ideologically opposed to mining …but he keeps those opinions for town hall meetings in Marrickville.
We should think of Albo’s methodology as Cosplay 2.0. The original version involved disaster leadership, opportunities to hug victims and myriad press conferences. Politicians love disasters. They provide rare opportunities to appear presidential, as the Americans say.
Yes, I know, they all do it.
Albanese has simply taken it to another level. He doesn’t feel the need to wait for disasters in order to manufacture opportunities for self-aggrandisement in non-political situations. He must employ someone just to identify photo opportunities in favourable contexts. Perhaps he has a team of them. Call them Cosplay Officers.
The satirical (fake news) Betoota Advocate said he went too far with his Mardi Gras outfit.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has caused quite a stir today, after revealing his outfit for Mardi Gras.
This comes as the WorldPride Festival kicking off in his home town of Sydney, with over half a million people set to descend about the Harbour City over the course of the festivities.
Praised for turning up to last years Mardi Gras parade, Albanese had previously committed to getting amongst the festivities now he is Prime Minister.
However, his choice of outfit has raised a few questions, with some punters accusing him of taking it a bit too far.
“Uhhhh, whaaaaas wrong vithhh isssss,” asked a flustered Albanese before pulling a ball gag out of his mouth.
The controversy stems from the fact that the Member for Grayndler is apparently planning to wear a full length skin tight leather suit with a hood and ball gag.
“I’m just getting dressed up for the party,” said Albanese ahead of this Saturday’s main event parade.
The outfit has seen his staffers trying to assure him that he doesn’t need to dress up in a full leather bondage suit to show the LGBTQIA+ community that he’s an ally.
“What about a rainbow pin and maybe a bright shirt,” suggested one of his staff, who can already see the Daily Telegraph front page on Sunday.
Like many a Babylon Bee story, it is only a tiny exaggeration. Who knows, it may even have happened.
Oh, and you can buy “Anthony: Rio Tinto” hoodies in America. They even mention cosplay.
Albo has also weighed in on the cosplay of other politicians, specifically in reference to Dominic Perottet’s youthful Nazi dress-up:
The PM says the outcome of the upcoming NSW election will be based on policy, not leaders' youthful mistakes.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/01/16/perrottet-albanese-nazi-uniform-costume/
David Lowe of the Byron Bay Echo has come up with some do’s and don’t’s of political cosplay. He notes:
Costume play is not just for Trekkies and Disney fans. If you want to get anywhere in Australian politics, cosplay needs to become a vital part of your skillset.
Remember it’s all about geography, or more precisely the intersection between geography and your political base. Ben Chifley’s old, battered suit which he wore everywhere wouldn’t cut the mustard these days. (Emphasis added).
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/03/political-cosplay-for-fun-and-profit/
There you go. It is certainly a part of Albo’s skillset. Perhaps it is all he has.
All in all, you would have to say that Albo’s cosplay strategy isn’t working that well. Every time he appears in drag somewhere, or just pops up in civvies, it simply reminds us all of his manifest shortcomings and that unusual combination of stupidity and extreme ideology that he brings to the table.
At some point, of course, he will have to set aside his Newtown Jets jersey and his Rio Tinto gear and turn up at the next election. Sadly, though, our elections have lost much of their accountability function in our so-called representative democracy. They are becoming festivals of cosplay, too. They provide yet more opportunities for performative non-leadership.
And our polity declines just that little bit more.
Paul Collits
18 February 2024
A silk purse out of a sow's ear never happens. Albo, with his litter of incompetents like the wrecker clown Bowen and dyke Pong telling the Israelis how to run their defense, will never be more than a mental midget.
He will get his portrait on a wall in the Canberra bunker along with the rest of the dwarfs after the curtain falls. But the damage they do lives after them.
By the way, TIA also means Transient Ischemic Attack, a temporary interruption to the blood flow to a part of the brain. Usually regarded as a warning sign of a more serious CVA ( stroke) to come.
Prophetic ?
Batouta article looks true to me.