{"id":521106,"date":"2026-03-05T21:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/521106\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T21:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:43:14","slug":"can-you-watch-without-wincing-seven-times-australian-politicians-burst-into-song-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/521106\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you watch without wincing? Seven times Australian politicians burst into song | Australian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

One hopes for a calm and dignified demeanour from our leaders but it seems Australia\u2019s politicians just can\u2019t resist the opportunity to break into song.<\/p>\n

The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson<\/a>, on Wednesday offered up his satirical version of Billy Joel\u2019s 1989 classic We Didn\u2019t Start the Fire, thus reminding us of some of Australian politicians\u2019 greatest hits.<\/p>\n

\"TimTim Wilson stuns Australian parliament with attempt at singing Billy Joel song \u2013 video Craig Emerson wipes out<\/p>\n

Who could forget witnessing the former Labor minister muttering \u201cno Whyalla wipeout\u201d to the tune of Skyhooks\u2019 1974 hit Horror Movie?<\/p>\n

Craig Emerson\u2019s singular vocal stylings came in response to Tony Abbott\u2019s comment that the carbon tax would wipe the South Australian city \u201coff the map\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bob Katter\u2019s got a feeling<\/p>\n

The member for Kennedy, Bob Katter<\/a>, is a master of political stunts. His laconic rendition of the Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969 classic Bad Moon Rising in 2018 came in a video posted to his Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The long-serving federal MP changed the chorus to \u201cThere\u2019s a crossbench on the rise\u201d. Don\u2019t miss the out-of-time hand claps!<\/p>\n

Allow Facebook content?<\/p>\n

This article includes content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n

Bill Shorten\u2019s rap battle<\/p>\n

When the then federal opposition leader channelled his inner rapper on Fitzy & Wippa\u2019s radio show in 2017, many were caught off guard.<\/p>\n

Bill Shorten dropped bars including \u201cOur economy is in debt but Malcom\u2019s just chillin\u2019, hey Malcom can you lend us a couple of million?\u201d to the tune of 50 cent\u2019s In Da Club, in what appeared to be a blatant attempt to traumatise \u2013 sorry, relate to \u2013 younger generations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

ScoMo\u2019s ukulele<\/p>\n

It would be remiss not to mention Scott Morrison<\/a> singing April Sun in Cuba while strumming his ukulele on 60 Minutes in 2022.<\/p>\n

He forgot the words halfway through and was out of tune for the duration. The band Dragon was less than impressed by the then prime minister\u2019s cover of their track, calling it<\/a> \u201ca cynical move for a politician to co-opt music in an attempt to humanize themselves come election time\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

GG\u2019s wife brings sunshine<\/p>\n

Linda Hurley, wife of the former governor general David Hurley, was known for her predilection for turning functions into singalongs.<\/p>\n

In 2019 she led Legacy widows at a Canberra morning tea in a chorus of You Are My Sunshine, in hopes of raising the morale of staff and guests.<\/p>\n

\"BringingBringing sunshine to Government House: Linda Hurley leads war widows in song \u2013 videoWestern Australian idol<\/p>\n

The former WA leader of the house David Templeman was renowned for belting out musical numbers in parliament.<\/p>\n

His hits include Always Look on the Bright Side of Parliament and Plastic Bags Banned (to the tune of Sound of Silence). His version of the Bee Gees\u2019 1967 hit To Love Somebody recounted his efforts to buy tickets for Coldplay\u2019s 2023 tour.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Clare Scriven\u2019s been everywhere<\/p>\n

South Australia\u2019s primary industries minister may be the best singer of the lot.<\/p>\n

In a 2022 rendition of I\u2019ve Been Everywhere, posted to ABC Adelaide\u2019s Facebook page, she replaced the places named in the song with towns and cities across SA, all the while banging a pen on a glass. Once heard, never forgotten.<\/p>\n

Allow Facebook content?<\/p>\n

This article includes content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n

There are many more musical politicians \u2013 Peter Garrett, the former Labor minister and lead singer of Midnight Oil, looms large \u2013 but do you qualify if you were a rock star before entering parliament?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One hopes for a calm and dignified demeanour from our leaders but it seems Australia\u2019s politicians just can\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-521106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}