![]() ![]() "He skites he's been to 100 countries on the public purse. "He never forgave me for it and I'm comfortable with that. "You'll notice I didn't mention him in my maiden speech," he says. "He's known around here as the Minister for Flags," barks a well-known Queenslander who has despised Slippery for years. When it comes to public money, Slippery is an expert, from massive postage bills to handing out record numbers of "free" (taxpayer-financed) Australian flags to potential voters who can guarantee him a picture in their local papers. The result: he spent $57,000 on ground transport last year more than the average income of his constituents in the seat of Fisher, which he first won as a National in 1984, lost at the next election and won back as a Liberal in 1993. Taxi drivers on the Sunshine Coast long ago learned to flick on the meter as soon as they pull up at Slippery's, because he often makes them wait half an hour or more.Īnd he cruises in Sydney cabs enroute to Canberra from Brisbane. I don't care about his weird ways but I do care about the public funds he's appropriated." Other members don't want to sit next to him. "I've seen him as full as a boot," he grins. "I don't want to be the focus of a vendetta against him," says a Queensland political figure famous for his vendetta against Slippery Pete, "but the bloke is an absolute weirdo and a nut."Īfter that, he abandons all pretence of Queensberry Rules and starts to sink the slipper. So who is Peter Neil Slipper and why are people calling him a rat? Hard to believe they're talking about the same man. On that last point, at least, Slipper's many critics agree.īut when they call him "Slippery Pete", there's not much affection at all. "I like and respect him but I think he has made some poor decisions of late," she says. He was kind to her when she went through a rough patch, she says. "He communicates well, a strong thinker, a very strong Christian, a bit pompous but funny and can poke fun at himself. The platonic female friend sticks up for her old drinking pal, saying he is "a good example of thwarted ambition" and that he has been "stuffed up by people who should have treated him better". The suspicion dawning on his dwindling band of supporters is that Slippery was faking it all along to appeal to the hometown folk or that he may be faking it now to snare a fatter salary and superannuation payout when the curtain drops on his chequered career. Even his friends a group shrinking faster than the contents of the Speaker's liquor cabinet call him "Slippery".Ĭoming from a younger woman who befriended him in Canberra in the 1990s, it's almost affectionate.īut like everyone from Slippery's former side of politics, she is bemused by the defection of a supposed pumpkin-scone Queenslander who wrapped himself in the flag, the Bible and the monarchy for 30 years, only to slip into bed with southern socialist tree-huggers who don't even oppose gay marriage any more. Like the best nicknames, it's double-edged. The 27th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, the Reverend and Honourable Peter Slipper, was called "Slippery Pete" even before he first slid into Parliament in 1984. ![]() EVERYONE has the face they deserve at 40 but nicknames kick in a lot earlier. ![]()
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