Earlier this week in Question Time, deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek had a question for Prime Minister Tony Abbott:
Before the election the Prime Minister said, “A government which is taking money off schools and hospitals so it can spend it on ads, this is absolutely the wrong way to go”.
Why is the Prime Minister spending money on a propaganda campaign while cutting $80 billion from schools and hospitals?
His response?
“There is no government advertising campaign, so please stop having the vapours about something that isn’t happening.”
“Stop wasting questions.”
Twitter got a little confused (and so did we) by the vapour reference, so we thought we’d clarify what it means exactly:
The term referring to illnesses known as the vapours (or vapors) is an archaic form of describing certain mental or physical states, such as hysteria, mania, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, fainting, withdrawal syndrome, mood swings or PMS, ascribed primarily to women and thought to be caused by internal emanations.
So Plibersek was just getting a little hysterical as women tend to do about those budget cuts then?
Thankfully Plibersek was ready to tackle QT the following day:
Just preparing for #qt by loosening my corset. I wouldn’t want to get another attack of the #vapours.
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) May 28, 2014
Shouldn’t have loosened the corset today in #qt. Really had the #vapours when @JulieBishopMP boasted about aid cuts. pic.twitter.com/qy6uQcbgnZ
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) May 28, 2014