Politicians do their best to borrow sporting analogies every chance they get, but it has become increasingly clear in the past 30 years that sports and politics should not mix.
Every Prime Minister in Australia, outside of art nerd Paul Keating, have at least pretended to be a massive sports fan, but when they have had the chance to put their love of sport into physical action it hasn’t quite gone to plan.
John Howard’s Bowling Fail
John Howard was a massive cricket nut and he spent the majority of his summer holidays glued to action, but it is fair to say that he won’t be getting a call-up to the Australian Test side anytime soon. In 2005, Howard was given the opportunity to show off his bowling ability in Pakistan, but in arguably the most famous moment of his Prime Ministership it did not go to plan.
Kevin Rudd Jinxes Queensland
Kevin Rudd is a proud Queenslander and he took to the Twittersphere to boast about Queensland’s chance ahead of the second State Of Origin game last month. Ruddy’s wise words – we are guessing he never told Julia Gillard to show no mercy – fell on deaf ears and Queensland fans blamed the former PM for their sides loss.
Tony Abbott Rocks The Budgie Smugglers
Tony Abbott is easily the most active Prime Minister in Australian history and he takes every possibly opportunity to get the Budgie Smugglers out and make sure that his ‘package’ is front and centre.
Bob Hawke Cops A Cricket Ball To The Face
Bob Hawke was a big fan of Australian sport during his time as Prime Minister and he famously said that “Any boss who sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum” after Australia took out the America’s Cup in 1983. Hawke was a key participant in the annual P.
Paul Keating Is A Nerd That Doesn’t Like Sport
Finding any footage of Paul Keating taking part in any form of physical activity proved an impossible task, but that came as no surprise as Keating is a big nerd that hates sports – one of the many reasons he only won one election as Prime Minister. Keating’s personal sport became insulting his rivals in Parliament and opposition leader John Hewson was on the receiving end of this spray in 1992.
Joe Hockey Gets Knocked Out Playing Rugby
It comes as no surprise to anybody that ever laid their eyes on Joe Hockey that he was once a Rugby Front-Rower and he was famously knocked out by Tony Abbot when they both played for the Sydney University Rugby team in the 1980s. Hockey must have felt a case of deja-vu when he was embarrassingly knocked out during a social rugby game in 2010.
Julia Gillard – Western Bulldogs Full Forward
Julia Gillard is a massive fan of the Western Bulldogs and that is probably the reason that the Football Club has never won a premiership during her lifetime. Gillard famously said that there was more chance of her becoming the full-forward for the Western Bulldogs than challenging Kevin Rudd for the Prime Ministership just over a month before she took the job. If only the Bulldogs had the same will to win.
John Howard’s Vigorous Celebrations
John Howard became Australia’s sporting cheerleader in the 1990s and 2000s and he could not contain his delight when Harry Kewell sent Australia through to the Round Of 16 at the 2006 Football World Cup.
Kevin Rudd = Fitness Guru
When you look at Kevin Rudd you don’t think fitness fanatic and this became very clear when for some reason he opted to try and do a few chin-ups during his campaign for the 2013 election. We are sure that Ruddy’s PT copped one of Rudd’s famous withering sprays for not doing his job correctly.
Mal Meninga Opts To Stick To Sport
Mal Meninga spent less than a minute as a politician before he decided that he was better suited to sports than politics. Good call Big Mal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79LaIL6x5d0