Clive Palmer Told Tony Abbott To “Commit Suicide” In A Press Conference Today, For Some Very Bad Reason
Someone's upset that Jeff the Dinosaur got burnt down.
It’s been a weird week for Clive Palmer (which is like saying “it’s been a wet week for a fish,” but bear with me). On Monday his favourite animatronic golf-course dinosaur, Jeff, was incinerated in an electrical fire, prompting cries of joy from pun-writing subeditors the world over.
RE Clive Palmer’s dinosaur. Great front! RT @Owenjay: Front page of @the_daily today. We miss you, Jeff. #RIPJeff pic.twitter.com/QnqwAsHocI
— David Douglas Stuart (@bigkamo) March 3, 2015
But this afternoon he made headlines for far less amusing reasons. During a Palmer United Party press conference calling on the government to abandon planned cuts to university funding, Palmer didn’t so much put his foot in his mouth as chew his leg off when he told Tony Abbott to “commit suicide”.
Reporters at the press conference reacted immediately, questioning Palmer’s language as inappropriate for a Member of Parliament to use. Palmer quickly apologised for the comments on Twitter and clarified that he “meant political suicide,” reminding everyone that we should probably collectively retire that phrase already.
Today I inadvertently used the term suicide in regard to @TonyAbbottMHR when I meant political suicide. I apologise for any offence caused. — Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) March 4, 2015
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Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467