Three-eyed koalas and Dutton as Snow White: how Simpsons memes have been weaponised in nuclear debate

Three-eyed koalas, Peter Dutton masquerading as Snow White in a “seven nukes” fairytale, and an arsenal of Simpsons gags besides.

The Coalition is objecting about what they are saying are “juvenile” on-line memes from authorities MPs attacking its nuclear coverage, as Labor MPs mount a social media assault on the opposition’s controversial and uncosted nuclear proposal.

Labor has savaged the Coalition’s power plan, with questions nonetheless unanswered over security, price, waste, design and native session. A lot Coalition concern on Thursday targeted on a barrage of memes, with Dutton even calling on the ABC to “condemn” one which referenced cartoon koala Blinky Invoice.

Michaelia Money, the shadow legal professional common, complained that Anthony Albanese “should pull his frontbench and all Labor MPs into line and tell them not to make such attacks”.

Money was notably troubled by what she known as a “disgraceful” Instagram put up from Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for treasury: a cartoon picture of Blinky Invoice, with three eyes edited on to his head, standing in entrance of the nuclear plant from The Simpsons.

“Is this what Peter Dutton wants Blinky to look like in 50 years?” Leigh wrote.

It’s the most recent iteration of a Simpsons theme from Labor and different nuclear critics referencing the long-running cartoon’s nuclear energy plant and its depictions of atomic power – together with its well-known three-eyed fish, additionally named Blinky.

Labor MP Dan Repacholi not too long ago posted an AI-generated picture of a fisher pulling up a three-eyed fish, important of the plant the Coalition desires in his Hunter citizens; one other backbencher, Julian Hill, on Thursday posted a picture of a two-headed cow.

“Don’t know? Vote no,” Hill wrote, referencing the slogan the Coalition employed in the course of the Indigenous voice referendum.

The Coalition has been alive to the danger of such attitudes taking maintain because it battles to elucidate its nuclear coverage to voters. Albanese not too long ago posted photographs of 10 lovely seaside places on-line, writing “they’re at risk of a nuclear reactor in their backyard”, to which Dutton rapidly posted a rebuttal of his personal on-line.

A number of Coalition figures hit out at Leigh’s Blinky Invoice meme. Money put out a whole press launch on Leigh’s put up, calling it a “disgraceful example of misinformation” and a “juvenile undergraduate attempt at humour”.

Dutton raised it on the ABC, blasting it as “juvenile conduct, which, frankly, should be condemned, including by the ABC”.

Phil Thompson, a Queensland MP and the shadow assistant defence minister, tweeted: “do you think our submariners will develop three eyes by being on a nuclear powered submarines? Didn’t you vote in favour of AUKUS?”

The opposition has been linking the Aukus nuclear submarine pact to the power plan – regardless of the 2 initiatives utilizing totally different know-how. On quite a few events Dutton and different senior Coalition members have invoked Aukus whereas making its case for nuclear power.

Responding to criticisms of his put up on ABC radio, Leigh claimed Dutton was “trying to distract from his refusal to release any costings(and) his refusal to provide answers on when nuclear power would come on stream”.

Requested about Leigh’s three-eyed Blinky put up on Sky Information, Albanese mentioned: “We’re not going to take lectures from the Coalition that are out there running scare campaigns about everything.”

Labor has been making Simpsons jokes in regards to the nuclear coverage for some months. With many Australians not overly aware of nuclear power, the pondering goes that the Simpsons is probably a uncommon level of reference. Labor sources have spoken of highlighting the “three-eyed fish” trope from The Simpsons.

Dutton, in a speech to a NSW Liberal convention final November, conceded get together analysis discovered some Australians “were influenced by The Simpsons … People didn’t want a Springfield going up in their back yard”.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, tweeted a picture of three-eyed fish and nuclear gas rods on Wednesday night time.

Dutton has been attempting to move off that dialog, saying earlier this week: “I know the Labor party’s putting out all sorts of cartoons, and ‘the Simpsons this’ and nonsense. This is about keeping the lights on in hospitals.”

In a press release on Wednesday, the Nationals MP Darren Chester – who would have a nuclear plant in-built his Gippsland citizens – additionally criticised the Simpsons jokes.

“Frankly, it is juvenile and demeaning to listen to some federal Labor MPs continually joking about the ‘The Simpsons’ cartoon in parliamentary debates, as if it’s an intelligent reference point for a mature conversation on an issue of intergenerational significance,” he mentioned.

Labor MP Brian Mitchell’s Victorian seat of McEwen was flagged as a Coalition goal within the final election, and it’ll once more be focused within the subsequent.

On Thursday morning he tweeted pictures of Dutton and the Nationals chief, David Littleproud, evaluating them to Mr Burns, the billionaire character from The Simpsons, and his worker Smithers.