Anthony Albanese was forced to apologise in parliament on Tuesday after questioning whether a Coalition minister “has Tourette’s or something”.
The Prime Minister made the comments in the Question Time segment of the day’s particularly rowdy parliamentary session.
When asked by New South Wales MP Angus Taylor about whether the government would rule out changes to the way owner-occupied homes are taxed, Albanese appeared to be interrupted during his response, prompting him to ask the interjector whether he suffered from the neurological syndrome.
“You know, you just sit there [and] babble, babble, babble,” the prime minister said, with audible gasps and jeers heard throughout parliament.
Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder currently affecting one in every 100 school-aged children in Australia. It causes unwanted and repetitive movements and vocal tics, but they are not always random swear words as commonly depicted in pop culture.
It’s not known for sure who Albanese directed the comment to, but The Guardian reports that it was Taylor who was on the receiving end of the tone deaf jab, after he continually chanted “rule it out” during the prime minister’s response.
Almost immediately, Albanese withdrew the comment and apologised, but Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston demanded more from him in a post on social media.
“The Prime Minister must immediately apologise to the entire Tourette’s community,” Ruston wrote while resharing the clip of Albanese’s comments on X.
“Mocking a disability is no laughing matter,” she added.
“This is absolutely despicable behaviour from [Albanese].”
Ruston concluded the post by declaring that Australians living with Tourette’s “deserve the PM’s respect, not his ridicule”.
Fellow politician Chris Crewther — an MP who suffers from Tourette’s himself and spoke about the condition in parliament in 2016 — joined Ruston in condemning the “absolutely disgraceful” comments, and also called on the PM to issue a formal apology.
Everyday Aussies weren’t too thrilled with the syndrome being used derogatorily, either.
One X user said Albanese’s comment “wasn’t just rude; it was deeply offensive to those with Tourette Syndrome”.
“Using any medical condition as an insult perpetuates stigma, suggesting shame or negativity,” they added.
Elsewhere, an X user said they “have Tourette’s and Albo can actually fuck off with this,” while another sarcastically quipped that “Albanese is full of class right now”.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that this particular parliamentary session was attended by former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who had left before the PM made the comments.
It’s also reported that Question Time got so heated that speaker Milton Dick told everyone to “take the temperature down”, which is totally fair, since this is parliament and not The Real Housewives.
This has the faint whiff of Albanese’s So Fresh cost of living meme, but somehow even cringier.
Lead image: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images and Anne Ruston/X.
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