Satire in Speedos
(The Sydney Morning Herald)

By Dylan Welch
March 7, 2007 - 2:16PM

Not everybody has had enough of  NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam in his skimpy swimwear.

The NSW section of the National Union of Workers has slapped together an Internet animation www.videosendups.com that casts Mr. Debnam as the lead singer in "In the Liberals" - a parody of the "In The Navy" by 1970s gay icons, the Village People.

The satirical animation is now being virally distributed via email.

It pictures Mr. Debnam in various states of undress or wearing a old-fashioned admiral's uniform - a point that makes fun of Mr. Debnam's former career in the Royal Australian Navy.

It also features a budgerigar that flys out of Mr. Debnam's Speedos at one point.

The animation also features Prime Minister John Howard, as a US motorcycle officer and deputy opposition leader Barry O'Farrell as a semi-naked native American.

Liberal powerbroker David Clarke is dressed in a deep, shadowy cloak with glowing eyes.

It features such lines as: ``If you're a right winger / And a real extremist / We like these sort of views'' and ``Folks say I'm a wanker / Sucking up to Canberra / They can have our GST''.

The animation was the brainchild of NUW state secretary Derrick Belan.

He said the idea came about after the excessive coverage of Mr. Debnam and his choice of swimwear.

"It's just a bit of fun. Mr. Debnam, every time you see him in the news he's wearing Speedos and in the water," Mr. Belan said.

Spokesman for Mr. Debnam, Brad Burden, said his boss hadn't seen the web clip.

"They can do whatever they want. They'll just tell lies, but hopefully the people of NSW won't believe it," he said.

State Liberal party director Graham Jaeschke - who recently complained to television watchdog, ACMA, over a Labor party television advertisement that suggested Mr. Debnam would sack police, teachers and nurses if elected - said there were no plans to complain about the web parody.

"I'm not sure what legal action can be taken ... it just shows how hand-in-glove the unions are with Labor," Mr. Jaeschke said.

"It would be nice if [the ALP] took responsibility for this action instead of letting the unions do their dirty work."

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