'iron Bar' Tuckey Takes Offence At Barb In Great Mouth-off

The Age

Friday August 11, 2006

By MICHELLE GRATTAN and MEAGHAN SHAW

THERE was plenty of tut-tutting from John Howard about an unseemly clash between backbench MP Wilson Tuckey and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, but the Prime Minister may see political advantage in it.

Liberal "Iron Bar" Tuckey already has a colourful, rough and tough reputation. People might have been more surprised at an angry-looking Mr Beazley exchanging insults as the two men faced off outside Parliament House yesterday.

Mr Beazley walked out for his morning "doorstop" interview to find Mr Tuckey attacking Labor at his own doorstop. The Labor leader tried to shoo him off good humouredly, but threw in a barb: "Take your tablets, mate, and come inside".

"Don't you insult me with tablets," Mr Tuckey shot back.

"I'm asking you, why are you defying the Australian people on border protection?" he said.

As Mr Beazley urged him to leave, the temperature rose. "I'm as entitled to stand here as you are . . . I'm interviewing you. I am asking you why your entire party is going to kill off legislation that the Australian people want?" Mr Tuckey said.

"And I am asking you, Wilson, why you would support a weak sop legislation?" Mr Beazley said. "I don't believe it's that," Mr Tuckey said.

"That's all it is, mate, it's a weak . . . ," Mr Beazley retorted. Mr Tuckey was not to be deterred. "Well, why don't you move some amendments to make it tougher?"

So it went. Finally, Mr Beazley said rather fiercely,"Why don't you take your weak, worthless self in there (Parliament) with the weak, worthless legislation?"

"Don't you call me weak, you fat so and so," Mr Tuckey said.

Before his news conference, Mr Howard rang Mr Tuckey to say he would probably be asked about the incident. He said later: "I don't think that altercation reflected well on either of them.

"Bear in mind, of course, Mr Beazley does aspire to be the prime minister."

He said Labor producing a toy chicken in Parliament on Wednesday, in a jibe at Treasurer Peter Costello, was far worse.

An unrepentant Mr Tuckey claimed Mr Beazley was being offensive to those who took tablets. "If he thinks it's an insult, does he say it to his mother?"

Former premier Jeff Kennett, who is chairman of the anti-depression organisation beyondblue, accused Mr Beazley of making light of mental health issues. He said it was easy to take comments such as "take your tablets" the wrong way.

"You've got to be very careful with what you say, particularly if you're talking to someone who is suffering depression, that you're not actually making it harder for them," he said.