Sky News presenter Paul Murray unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade against Labor off air, calling the opposition leader “fucking Albo”, and directing his audience to vote for the Coalition.
An audio recording from the Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane on Tuesday night has the Sky After Dark host making offensive remarks about senior Labor figures and demeaning comments about trans people, while defence minister, Peter Dutton, waited to be interviewed. It is not known if Dutton heard the remarks and he has been contacted for comment.
Murray was warming-up the audience ahead of Sky’s Paul Murray’s Live Pub Test, imploring them to vote for the Liberal and National candidates, rather than minor parties, to ensure a Coalition election victory.
During the 10-minute monologue Murray mocked former treasurer Wayne Swan, the president of the ALP, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, West Australian premier Mark McGowan and Sky News commentator and regular guest Nicholas Reece, deputy lord mayor of Melbourne city council.
Murray laughed at Swan for coming to the defence of Albanese, when he accused the media of “disgusting” gotcha journalism. “And again, what about Wayne Swan the other day, screaming and moaning because of course ‘the press has been mean to Albo, too mean to Albo’”, Murray said.
He called the opposition leader “fucking Albo” when relating a story about two Labor leaders Albanese and McGowan owning poodles; and he said shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong looked like a “mean girl”.
“Have you heard about how Mark McGowan has a poodle like fucking Albo?,” he said.
“We got mean girl Penny Wong pretending to be nice but still looking like a mean girl.
“We got Albo promising to own 40% of people’s houses. How good is that idea? Albo Bank? Fair dinkum.”
He appealed to the crowd to ensure everyone votes LNP, because it is “your job” and “our job” to “build a buffer against the woke in Victoria”.
“We’re going to build a buffer against the teals in Sydney,” he said. “We’re going to build a buffer against the bullshit that might be playing in places like Western Australia”.
Murray also talked about transgender people and appeared to ridicule trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who made history as the first known transgender athlete to win a US college swimming championship.
“A sheila with a penis swam faster than a bunch of women without a penis; who has a girlfriend with a vagina; but he is a lesbian,” Murray said. “Welcome to 2022 people, welcome to 2022. That’s their game and that’s the way that they play.”
About Palaszczuk and her Labor team, he says: “Honestly, as I said before the election and I repeat now, flush … them, Domestos [bleach] and flush again, when it comes to that mob.”
Murray asks the audience to yell out which regular guests they like and which they don’t. They say they like Bronwyn Bishop, Mark Latham and Matt Canavan but they don’t like regular Labor guests Nicholas Reece, and Stephen Conroy. Murray laughs and says Reece is like a “blow-up clown doll”, meaning he gets knocked down and always comes back for more, adding “he thinks he’s doing god’s work”.
He calls on the audience to vote to ensure Labor doesn’t win because his television show, and Sky News in general and “views like yours” will be in danger.
“What do you think’s gonna happen to a show like mine and a station like ours and views like yours if they end up in charge?,” Murray says.
“That’s why it matters. It’s not just any old election. We all know that it has serious consequences, but I genuinely believe that the right thing can happen. I believe that it’s just the same as 2019. There’s a whole bunch of people who, frankly, tell pollsters to bugger off, In fact did you know this?
Murray believes the Coalition can still win because polls are inaccurate.
“Now you know and I know what the stakes are and why China matters. What China means.”
“You’ve heard me talk about the preferences and obviously this election. There are some people who voted for the LNP in 2019 last time who say they don’t want to do it this time. But preferences matter.”
He warns that people who say they are annoyed with the LNP and they are going to “put them all last” will end up with an Albanese government if they “muck around with the lower house”.
“So if you’ve got one of those mates, in my view, my editorial, they say ‘I’ll put them all last,’ they’re gonna get Albo.
“That’s how it works. You’re not going to get the Palmer party as the government; not going to get One Nation as the government.”
“But mucking around in the lower house is gonna result with Albo as prime minister,” he said.
In his interview after the monologue, Dutton also encouraged “the silent majority” who support the Liberal party to speak up.
“The trouble is for our support base … they’re out working, and of a night-time, they’re doing the books and putting kids to bed and dealing with the realities of life,” Dutton said.
“They’re not involved in the day-to-day political exchange that you might see on Twitter or Facebook.
“They just don’t have the time to be online warriors the way that the left does.”
Murray promised the crowd they can take selfies with him at the end of the show.
Sky News and Paul Murray have been contacted for comment.
