"Going off like a frog in a sock" Is that a thing? :P

[geminibear]

Australia politician mocks Depp and Heard apology video

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36052247

 

"At the end of it we've got a message that is going all around the world right now, it's going off like a frog in a sock telling people that if you come into this nation and you don't obey our laws, you're in trouble," - Barnaby Joyce, Australia Agriculture Minister.

[+ Truereview]

[+ purplekow]

Another example of celebrity entitlement. I do think threatening to kill the dogs was a bit much. A reasonable quarantine after a health check, which is what is usually done when traveling with dogs or other animals internationally, would have been sufficient.

However, if the owners were just your everyday, drug smuggler offspring, private jetting into Australia for a Bacchanalian respite which included the lap dogs, it is likely that the Australian government would not have become aware of the presence of the dogs in the country. So celebrity also was the reason they were caught.

As to going off like a frog in a sock, I am reminded of, but hesitate to make a reference to, a wild encounter I had with Steven Draker lest, the PC police come after me....which is what Steven did.

[+ jc808]

I absolutely agree about celebrity entitlement, and you must always obey the laws of the country you are in, but I do think this Joyce fellow seems a bit much. Are there no Yorkshire Terriers in Australia? Are they actually a danger to its flora and fauna any more than Mr. Joyce himself. After all, neither the Yorkies, nor Mr. Joyce, are exactly natives in the ecological sense.

[+ purplekow]

I absolutely agree about celebrity entitlement, and you must always obey the laws of the country you are in, but I do think this Joyce fellow seems a bit much. Are there no Yorkshire Terriers in Australia? Are they actually a danger to its flora and fauna any more than Mr. Joyce himself. After all, neither the Yorkies, nor Mr. Joyce, are exactly natives in the ecological sense.

There are dog diseases which are present here in the US which are not present in Australia. Unlikely that these dogs will cause a problem, but that is what was likely said by the first person to bring a cat to Australia. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/10/14/australia-defends-decision-to-put-down-2-million

[+ glennnn]

Do you remembe when Elizabeth Taylor tried to bring her dogs into England back in the 60's? The British government was threatening to put the animals into a six month quarantine. The compromise there was that the dogs lived on a yacht in the Thames and never landed. What I find so odd in this case is the strange, mechanical performance of Depp and Heard in the apology video. They seem almost terrified.

[seaboy4hire]

Do you remembe when Elizabeth Taylor tried to bring her dogs into England back in the 60's? The British government was threatening to put the animals into a six month quarantine. The compromise there was that the dogs lived on a yacht in the Thames and never landed. What I find so odd in this case is the strange, mechanical performance of Depp and Heard in the apology video. They seem almost terrified.

 

I think he looked annoyed. This whole thing was blown up to mauch a do about nothing.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[+ glennnn]

Yeah! Maybe it was a "fuck you" performance. You can make me do this, but you can't make me like it.

[mike carey]

A reasonable quarantine after a health check,

There are approved quarantine measures and they incude health checks and a period of quarantine in the departure country, followed by further quarantine here. Like the US, Australian arrival cards include a quarantine declaration. She checked 'No' on the any animals box.

Are there no Yorkshire Terriers in Australia? Are they actually a danger to its flora and fauna any more than Mr. Joyce himself.

Of course there are Yorkies here, that's not the issue. We're not worried about the sudden appearance of packs of feral Yorkies in the bush. The issue is disease. We don't have rabies in Australia and don't want it. There are other disease threats that unscreened animals could bring. Part of Mr Joyce's tantrum (he's now the deputy PM FFS) was to publicise the fact that we have strict quarantine laws, and I think in that he has succeeded!

Yeah! Maybe it was a "fuck you" performance. You can make me do this, but you can't make me like it.

Word here is that he offered this rather than having been asked or told to do it. If they start screening it on arriving flights I think I will throw up.

[Marlfox]

Barnaby Joyce is an attention seeking politician who is the leader of a right wing party which is in a coalition which is currently governing Australia. Most people think he is a buffoon.

 

However most Australians would support the action taken against the Depps. It wasn't a case of them not being aware of our quarantine laws. Part of the allegations against Mrs Depp was that she knowingly falsely declared that she was not importing a prohibited object into the country. She obviously thought she could get away with it.

 

The prohibition against dogs is because the rabies virus is not present in Australia. And we would like to keep it out. It used to be that imported dogs had to spend three months in quarantine, however I think that period may have been shortened.

 

Purplekow mentioned cats being introduced here. Feral cats and foxes have decimated the small marsupial population here. There are numerous other examples of introduced species driving out native animals.

 

Seaboy is correct in that the case got blown up because the Depps were involved. However it wasn't an instance of it being much about nothing.

[geminibear]

I could give a flying fuck about the Depps. Barnaby Joyce sounds like a tool. I am glad the Yorkies didn't have to be put down. Coming from an agrarian upbringing I have seen rabies and I do believe Australia is correct in taking actions to protect their continent against it.

 

I just had never heard the phrase "going off like a frog in a sock". Who says that other than Minster of tools Joyce?

[+ glennnn]

I am a huge fan of Mr. Depp who is arguably the best actor of his generation, and he generally seems a decent and, so we are told, sexy man. However, in this case he was part of an illegal act against a nation's policy. He has apologized. I will continue to enjoy his work, but I have less personal respect for him than formerly.

[Marlfox]

I just had never heard the phrase "going off like a frog in a sock". Who says that other than Minster of tools Joyce?

 

I'd never heard the expression before and imagine Joyce thought it up himself.