Culture

Bronwyn Bishop Resigns; Ruins Sunday Afternoons Of On-Call Journalists Everywhere

THIS IS THE WORST OF YOUR MANY CRIMES, BRONWYN.

by Alex McKinnon  2 August 2015

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IT’S HAPPENED.

After more than three weeks, thousands of dollars worth of dodgy travel entitlement claims, a series of sorry-not-sorry statements and just a shitload of helicopter memes, Bronwyn Bishop has resigned the Speakership of the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the news in a press conference this afternoon, promising a root-and-branch overhaul of the Parliamentary entitlements system to be more in line with community expectations. As is to be expected, the news has sparked an avalanche of schadenfreude on Twitter, as well as yet more dank helicopter memes:

Besides sustained public anger and new revelations about her expensive travel habits, Bishop’s resignation after weeks of resistance from the government likely comes today in an effort to avoid a vote of no confidence in her Speakership, which was floated by both independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Clive Palmer. While Palmer’s video to Bishop is now legendary, Wilkie has responded to the news with a pretty sweet burn of his own:

Bishop and Abbott, who once described himself as her “ideological love-child,” held out on demands for Bishop to resign for more than three weeks despite immense public pressure and media coverage. Their decision to concede defeat on a Sunday afternoon instead of during a working week when people are expecting this kind of shit is unlikely to play well with hardworking media drones everywhere who would rather be at the pub right now.