For as long as rulers have abused their power there has also been political satire. Satirists have used wit and comedy as a weapon against the powerful, sometimes braving imprisonment, torture or the gallows.
Perhaps none of the four satirists who were featured at 鈥淲elcome to the Abbottoir鈥, 麻豆传媒 Weekly's inaugural Sydney comedy night on November 9, have yet to brave the gallows (though one of them, Twiggy Palmcock, was roughed up by security guards when he ) but all gave powerful performances.
Palmcock, who describes himself as an unfairly politically overlooked 鈥淓xcretum Mining CEO and magnate鈥 spoke of his ambition to set up a 鈥淪eptic Think Tank to combat Climate Alarmism鈥.
Palmcock said he came with a mission 鈥渢o restore the bias to this sordid Maoist frat house party鈥. And he seemed to have hypnotised the audience into repeating after him a string of 鈥淏uddhist chants鈥 he had cunningly adapted to his political quest to become the next conservative member for the seat of Greenway.
Carlo Sands, a self-described 鈥渕ilitant alcoholic鈥, was a former champion of Clive Palmer's political hopes until real life once more overtook parody. He frantically workshopped replacement political missions.
Hannah G from Newcastle (a fact she used to win instant sympathy from the Sydney crowd) gave a dramatic reading of excerpts from Abbott's political autobiography Battlelines, revealing the PM's hitherto unrecognised comic talent.
Last, Michael Hing 鈥 whose satirical federal election series for SBS TV tore the scabs of some ugly political realities this year 鈥 indulged in a rare opportunity to get the best laughs for his merciless jibes at racism in Australia. Chuffed, he said: 鈥淥h, that's the first time anybody laughed at that joke!鈥
The venue, at the Addison Road Community Centre, was packed out and rocked with laughter from start to finish. As host Chris Williams said, the consensus 鈥 of audience and performers 鈥 at the end of the performance was: "We want more of this."
With big political battles of resistance to wage on so many fronts against the Abbott government and the corporate rich it serves, we need to muster the energy and will to persist. Political satire is a mighty weapon and we need more successful events like this.
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