AND POLITICS IS ITS FOCUS!

The Bug was taking the mickey out of Australian politics reporting long before that inferior show, Media Watch was just a conceptual twinkle in some Australian Broadcasting Corporation executive’s eye.

And ever since Aunty gave birth to that program and a succession of hosts has done a fine job to make it a must-watch for politics and media junkies, The Bug’s two media posts, Media Glass House and Mediocre Bytes, have got stuck into politics reporting far more often each week than a piddling 15 minutes on the box!

But we will never rest on our laurels and today we proudly announce a new annual trophy that needs no explanation really. Well, just one. We decided that the best Bill Shorten zinger of the year competition should be open not to just politicians but politics reporters and columnists across all mainstream mediocre platforms.

And we know you are dying to know the identity of the mystery woman shown at top. Well, it’s her zinger just a few days ago that sparked our idea for this trophy, and whose name has now been popped into the prize barrel as our first contender for end-of-year glory!

So, take a bow…..

… ABC News Breakfast’s current co-host Emma Rebellato!

A few days ago, Emma and Katherine Murphy were listening to Opposition Leader Anus Taylor doing his usual pitch of recent months: Labor was taking the nation to hell in a handbasket and only the Opposition who everyone knows is the only side of politics that can manage economies well simply had to win next time! On its own with no-one else’s help and there will be no preference deal with One Nation until it’s announced.

And then Emma hit him with this zinger that might even make Bill Shorten offer an admiring smile: “When will voters start listening to you?”

Z..I..N..G..E..R!

We have yet to appoint a judging panel to select the 2026 winner but some of those likely to be selected think Emma might be hard to beat!

EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE: The only image we could snare for this announcement had Emma facing the wrong way…

… so we asked one of our AI (artist idiots) staffers to put things right. We hope we have done Emma proud.

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