Where is the Beef in Parliament House?
September 17th 2008 22:32
Only in Australia. Only in Australia can our Federal politicians spend hours discussing failing economies, new Liberal leaders and starving pensioners and then switch, as soon as the televised portion of Parliament is over, to discuss one MP’s disapproval of the portion size of beef stroganoff in the Parliament House cafeteria. Sure, beef stroganoff is definitely a topic close to my heart and I understand how people can get absolutely passionate about it. But the problem with talking about the pint-sized stroganoff? This all happened on the floor of Parliament.
After Question Time had ended on Malcolm Turnbull’s first day as Leader of the Opposition, things got absolutely bizarre when New South Wales Labor MP stood to address the Speaker, asking him to look into his wife’s complaint about the portion sizes of beef stroganoff in the cafeteria. According to Murphy, his wife’s first complaint was that there was only a small amount of hot food available after 7pm, after which the cafeteria staff goes home and don’t make any more. This was only compounded the next day when Mrs Murphy had to ask to see the cafeteria manager to dispute the size of her beef stroganoff. The manager, having listened the MP’s wife complain about the portion size and offering to top it up if she really wanted, ended up telling the woman that if she didn’t approve of the portion size maybe she should bring lunch from home. You can just imagine the look of fury on Mrs Murphy’s face as she stormed up to her husband’s office and informed him of her grievances. And so it was that John Murphy stood on the floor of Parliament asking the Speaker to look into cancelling the catering company’s contract and asking for an apology for the ‘insult’ to his wife. It is almost unbelievable. I was watching Question Time when it happened, having checked in to see how Malcolm Turnbull went on his first day on the job. Question Time ended and I began to go about my business when I heard the words “stroganoff” and “catering company”. That was around about the time I returned to see what in the world was happening.
It would be amusing if it wasn’t so incredibly typical. No more than ten minutes earlier the Government had been answering questions about their approach to pensioners and their plan to life pensioners out of the poverty trap. Those people would be absolutely grateful to have even the “small” portions of food available for $7 at the Parliament House cafeteria. It is no wonder that John Murphy is being raked over the coals for his dramatic approach to customer complaints. While the rest of us fill out complaint forms and drop them in the box at our nearest fast food restaurant, John Murphy has all of Parliament House to use as a vehicle to deliver his argument. There is nothing more productive than spending 20 minutes or so discussing beef stroganoff on the floor of Parliament. I mean, it’s not like we are heading into a recession or anything right?
Sources high up in the Federal Liberal Party have told that both sides of Parliament are equally as disgusted by Tuesday’s stroganoff fiasco. John Murphy may have satisfied his wife by taking her complaint to the most high profile stage in Australia. But his bosses in the Labor Party sure weren’t and the Liberal’s will be dining out on this one for weeks. Pardon the pun. Even worse than Murphy though was Speaker of the House Harry Jenkins, whose response to Murphy wasn’t “Get out and tell your wife to stop whinging”. No. Jenkins’ response was that he took the complaint very seriously, that the catering company’s contract was coming up for review and that they would discuss the matter in a committee meeting on Monday. You heard correctly. The Speaker of the House referred the portion size of beef stroganoff in the cafeteria to a Parliamentary committee meeting. I would be willing to bet that after all the furore over using Parliament time to discuss stroganoff that the cafeteria seems to disappear from the committee’s agenda come Monday morning. The fact that Murphy brought up portion sizes on the floor is one thing. It’s another thing altogether if it is put on an agenda to be discussed at a committee. Murphy himself just demonstrates an isolated case of insanity. To take it to committee? Well, there is something to be said for collective madness.
I think the cafeteria manager said it all when she was interviewed about the situation. “We are dealing with big egos here”. And that what it comes down to. People like John Murphy feel that because they sit in the background of Parliament they have the right to use that status to get special treatment. In this case it is a bigger portion size. And if they don’t get that bigger portion size they will take it as far as it will go, right to the floor of Parliament if they have to. If anything, it just goes to show you how little worries backbenchers have. Murphy has such little work to do to earn his $130 000 a year that he had the time to prepare a speech about beef stroganoff.
I would be willing to put up with a small bowl of stroganoff for $130 000. I wouldn’t even complain about it, either.
After Question Time had ended on Malcolm Turnbull’s first day as Leader of the Opposition, things got absolutely bizarre when New South Wales Labor MP stood to address the Speaker, asking him to look into his wife’s complaint about the portion sizes of beef stroganoff in the cafeteria. According to Murphy, his wife’s first complaint was that there was only a small amount of hot food available after 7pm, after which the cafeteria staff goes home and don’t make any more. This was only compounded the next day when Mrs Murphy had to ask to see the cafeteria manager to dispute the size of her beef stroganoff. The manager, having listened the MP’s wife complain about the portion size and offering to top it up if she really wanted, ended up telling the woman that if she didn’t approve of the portion size maybe she should bring lunch from home. You can just imagine the look of fury on Mrs Murphy’s face as she stormed up to her husband’s office and informed him of her grievances. And so it was that John Murphy stood on the floor of Parliament asking the Speaker to look into cancelling the catering company’s contract and asking for an apology for the ‘insult’ to his wife. It is almost unbelievable. I was watching Question Time when it happened, having checked in to see how Malcolm Turnbull went on his first day on the job. Question Time ended and I began to go about my business when I heard the words “stroganoff” and “catering company”. That was around about the time I returned to see what in the world was happening.
It would be amusing if it wasn’t so incredibly typical. No more than ten minutes earlier the Government had been answering questions about their approach to pensioners and their plan to life pensioners out of the poverty trap. Those people would be absolutely grateful to have even the “small” portions of food available for $7 at the Parliament House cafeteria. It is no wonder that John Murphy is being raked over the coals for his dramatic approach to customer complaints. While the rest of us fill out complaint forms and drop them in the box at our nearest fast food restaurant, John Murphy has all of Parliament House to use as a vehicle to deliver his argument. There is nothing more productive than spending 20 minutes or so discussing beef stroganoff on the floor of Parliament. I mean, it’s not like we are heading into a recession or anything right?
Sources high up in the Federal Liberal Party have told that both sides of Parliament are equally as disgusted by Tuesday’s stroganoff fiasco. John Murphy may have satisfied his wife by taking her complaint to the most high profile stage in Australia. But his bosses in the Labor Party sure weren’t and the Liberal’s will be dining out on this one for weeks. Pardon the pun. Even worse than Murphy though was Speaker of the House Harry Jenkins, whose response to Murphy wasn’t “Get out and tell your wife to stop whinging”. No. Jenkins’ response was that he took the complaint very seriously, that the catering company’s contract was coming up for review and that they would discuss the matter in a committee meeting on Monday. You heard correctly. The Speaker of the House referred the portion size of beef stroganoff in the cafeteria to a Parliamentary committee meeting. I would be willing to bet that after all the furore over using Parliament time to discuss stroganoff that the cafeteria seems to disappear from the committee’s agenda come Monday morning. The fact that Murphy brought up portion sizes on the floor is one thing. It’s another thing altogether if it is put on an agenda to be discussed at a committee. Murphy himself just demonstrates an isolated case of insanity. To take it to committee? Well, there is something to be said for collective madness.
I think the cafeteria manager said it all when she was interviewed about the situation. “We are dealing with big egos here”. And that what it comes down to. People like John Murphy feel that because they sit in the background of Parliament they have the right to use that status to get special treatment. In this case it is a bigger portion size. And if they don’t get that bigger portion size they will take it as far as it will go, right to the floor of Parliament if they have to. If anything, it just goes to show you how little worries backbenchers have. Murphy has such little work to do to earn his $130 000 a year that he had the time to prepare a speech about beef stroganoff.
I would be willing to put up with a small bowl of stroganoff for $130 000. I wouldn’t even complain about it, either.
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