The first day of the new sitting week began with a government MP calling for Labor leader Bill Shorten to resign if Donald Trump is elected US president.
"If @realDonaldTrump becomes president, then @billshortenmp must resign," according to Government MP @LukeHowarthMP… https://t.co/zhoDYxE4iL
Sure, you might be scratching your head about how those two things are related, but it's not even in the top 10 weirdest things that happened today.
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts then released a 42-page document claiming the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology corrupted climate data and that global warming is an international scam.
Roberts was flanked by fellow climate science deniers, Tony Heller (left) and Tim Ball. The latter claimed the ~global climate conspiracy~ was all the fault of a group of elites called the "Club of Rome" and an international businessman named "Maurice Strong".
It was later discovered that Tony Heller blogs under the pseudonym Steve Goddard and has written conspiracy theories about the events surrounding the Sandy Hook massacre.
.@BevanShields Roberts' guest Tony Heller (aka Steven Goddard) is very much a conspiracy theorist, including a Sand… https://t.co/ZrSltl8KFk
When journalists at the event started asking questions about fellow One Nation senator Rod Culleton, party adviser James Ashby yelled at the media and the press conference was shut down.
James Ashby yells at the media asking questions about Culleton: "We're not talking about that now.."
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Craig Kelly was over in the House of Representatives, where he linked child drownings to renewable energy during a parliamentary motion.
Australian Government MP links renewable energy to child drownings https://t.co/9DoKGzDa7z
The Senate spent most of the morning discussing the plebiscite on same-sex marriage. But with Labor, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team and Derryn Hinch all pledging to vote against the bill, it's going to fail.
During that debate, David Leyonhjelm dismissed the argument that the plebiscite will be hurtful to LGBTI people, comparing it to Martin Luther King halting his advocacy for fear of hurting "psychologically fragile Negroes".
From Leyonhjelm's plebiscite speech:
OK, back to the House of Representatives... government MP (and former whip) Scott Buchholz accidentally seconded a motion criticising his own government for "short-changing pensioners".
View this video on YouTube
Then One Nation senator Rod Culleton got up in the Senate and delivered a bizarre speech defending himself from claims he's actually ineligible to serve as a senator because of a previous conviction (since overturned) for stealing a truck key.
And it had everyone mouthing the letters "W-T-F" slowly.
This is an incomplete list but Sen Culleton has cited in support of his case Jesus, the Queen, every Australian soldier,
Culleton's party leader Pauline Hanson then proceeded to throw him under the bus, supporting the Senate motion to refer his election to the High Court.
In Question Time, immigration minister Peter Dutton went on a tear about the CFMEU, where he called Julia Gillard's partner a "stay-at-home hubby". Labor's Anthony Albanese called a point of order on the ground of "weirdness".
My take? Albo's "on weirdness" point of order incredibly justified
US astronaut Buzz Aldrin then dropped in to visit prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to talk about Mars... BECAUSE WHY NOT?!
