Politics

A Liberal Staffer Was Fired For Sharing An Extremely Spicy Barnaby Joyce Meme

The meme also sledged Tony Abbott.

Barnaby Joyce

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

A Liberal staffer has been sacked after he accidentally emailed journalists a meme hanging shit on former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and his old partner in crime Tony Abbott.

The email was sent from the office of Chief Government Whip Nola Marino on Monday morning, and features an image of Joyce and Abbott sitting next to each other on the backbench, along with a caption that reads “when you get in trouble in class and you get sat next to the weird kid no-one likes”.

The party whip is responsible for ensuring that enough MPs are present in the chamber for important votes, so when an email comes from their office, it’s usually taken pretty seriously.

The email was sent out to several journalists only to be recalled minutes later. But by then it was too late.

What’s even more embarrassing is that the meme appears to have originated from the ALP Spicy Meme Stash Facebook group. Just another example of politicians stealing ideas from their opponents and trying to pass them off as their own.

According to Marino’s office, media adviser Ryan Hadjimihalakis has been sacked over the incident. Which seems a bit harsh, given that Peter Dutton once sent a text to a journalist calling her a “mad fucking witch”, and he got promoted to Home Affairs minister.