
Dutton’s loss mocked with #PutOutYourPotatoes
POOR old Peter Dutton can't catch a break.
The fallout of his failed leadership challenge against Malcolm Turnbull was all anyone in Australia was talking about on Tuesday.
Then, he resigned from the frontbench and his role as Home Affairs Minister.
In the hours that followed, social media lit up with calls to #PutOutYourPotatoes in celebration of Mr Dutton's fizzled attempt to oust the Prime Minister.
#PutYourPotatosOut #auspol pic.twitter.com/Ifkj6b9P2j
— David Alexander (@davidFalexander) 20 August 2018
The vegetable tribute is reminiscent of 2015 when Aussies called on one another to #PutOutYourOnions in tribute to Tony Abbott after he was rolled in a leadership spill by Mr Turnbull.
In Mr Abbott's case, the humble vegetable was a nod to that unforgettable time the former PM bit into a raw onion - skin and everything. As for the spud? Mr Dutton's nickname "Potato Head" was first coined by Labor's Tim Watt in 2016 during Question Time and has stuck around ever since.
Judging by social media, there's not a whole lot of sympathy flying Mr Dutton's way following his crack at leading the Liberal Party.
It's... time.#PutOutYourPotatoes pic.twitter.com/rSkMJpg3Fw
— Richard Tuffin 🌈 (@RichardTuffin) 21 August 2018
Turnbull wins 48-35, inconceivable Dutton remains on the front bench #putoutyourpotatoes pic.twitter.com/jbirdtEaj3
— Comrade Weez (@weezmgk) 20 August 2018
Everybody #PutOutYourPotatoes pic.twitter.com/fYflep5p5J
— @elronxenu@mastodon.cloud (@elronxenu) 3 January 2016
In memory of Peter Dutton's #libspill challenge #auspol #PutOutYourPotatoes pic.twitter.com/yIS1pufySW
— BYoung 🇦🇺 (@MrBMYoung) 20 August 2018
Just to really kick the man when he's down, the fallen minister's Wikipedia page was edited to feature some pretty cheeky details.
"Peter Dutton was created in a laboratory in the northern Brisbane suburb of Boondall," the amended article read, as Junkee first reported.
"Dutton soon made the vat his home as a gestational being, and soon was strong enough to scare the other animals in the laboratory with his soulless dead eyes."
The Wikipedia page has since been changed back, reading: "In an August 2018 spill he challenged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for leadership of the Liberal Party, but was defeated by 35 votes to 48. In the aftermath of the spill Dutton resigned from Ministry and rejected an invitation from Turnbull to remain in the Cabinet."
Fortunately, we'll always have the screengrabs.
Your evil work, PP??? @PPantsdown pic.twitter.com/3Su6HiusGT
— Kate Doolan (@crocodilekatie) 20 August 2018