LAUGHINGSTOCK:

Labor Trussed-up by gag orders (August 9, 2010, Sydney Morning Herald)

THE Labor Party has reason to be terrified. Warren Truss - who, in case you had not noticed, is Deputy Leader of the Opposition - and Julie Bishop, deputy leader of the Liberal Party, are now so relaxed and confident they are prepared to perform comedy routines to a packed theatre.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Truss intoned at the Coalition's official campaign launch, has become so isolated ''she has had to resort to texting her ex to ask him to accompany her to the ball because she couldn't find anyone else willing to dance with her''.

Why, asked Truss, had the Gillard government given up making decisions, just as the ex, Kevin Rudd, had left most of the reports and reviews he had commissioned gathering dust or in the too-hard basket.
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''This isn't governing. This is loitering without intent,'' he deadpanned. The audience howled. It wasn't the greatest line, but coming from Warren Truss, who normally wears the mournful look of a homeless hound, it was high comedy.