Australia’s prime minister appears to have nicked a slogan straight from the TV.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s recent references to “continuity” and “change” appear to have been ripped from the HBO comedy Veep. The use of the terms is remarkably similar to the slogan of fictional U.S. president Selina Meyer in the show: “Continuity with change.”
Turnbull appeared on the ABC’s 7:30 on Monday evening, on the defence after a dramatic day which could see Australia heading to an early election. During the interview he dropped the words “continuity” and “change” numerous times.
In the interview, Turnbull was asked about what the point was of getting rid of the last prime minister, Tony Abbott, if there were “very little differences” between the policies of the former government and the current one.
“So, as you go from one Liberal prime minister to another, you have continuity and you have change and there has been a lot of change,” Turnbull said.
On Tuesday morning, when he spoke to Neil Mitchell on radio station 3AW, he again used the slogan. “As I said earlier today there is continuity and there is change. I give full credit to Tony Abbott for his success for example in stopping the boats,” he said.
The problem is, his argument is not in any way original, as noticed by ABC political correspondent Greg Jennett on Tuesday morning. It is not clear if Turnbull or his advisors were aware of the Veep connection, his office has been contacted for comment.
.@TurnbullMalcolm‘s new “Continuity & change” argument sounds familiar @VeepHBO https://t.co/XAXp56JHql pic.twitter.com/dqwRlL09hs
— Greg Jennett (@GregJennett) March 21, 2016
It’s certainly not gone over the heads of the writers and cast of Veep, with executive producer Simon Blackwell saying the slogan was the “most meaningless” one they could think of for Season 4 of the television show.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays U.S. president Selina Meyer, said she was just simply “dumbstruck.”
In S4 of Veep we came up with the most meaningless election slogan we could think of. Now adopted by Australian PM. https://t.co/64YmQvImj5
— Simon Blackwell (@simonblackwell) March 22, 2016
“Continuity with Change” — but close enough! @VeepHBO @Aiannucci @simonblackwell @OfficialJLD https://t.co/xqHeG6WXPS
— Frank Rich (@frankrichny) March 22, 2016
I am dumbstruck. @VeepHBO https://t.co/emEjFmWDgE
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) March 22, 2016
In contrast, Timothy Simons, the actor behind White House liaison Jonah Ryan, is just really happy with the “free publicity” Australia’s prime minister has given to Veep.
A heartfelt thanks to the truly clueless US / World politicians providing us with so much free publicity. https://t.co/HYgogQSNX2
— Timothy Simons (@timothycsimons) March 22, 2016
Here’s hoping Australia’s prime minister adopts “twirling towards freedom” or “TURNBULL: FOR THE PEOPLE” next — because if you’re going to take slogans, you might as well take the good ones.
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