Arch-conservative Liberal Senator Eric Abetz is the subject of a cracking profile in Fairfax's Good Weekend today, but there's one little tidbit that really stands out.
According to the profile, Abetz, along with Labor's then science minister Kim Carr, was asked to send a message to outer space for Science Week in 2009.
Abetz was the Liberal science spokesman, so it made sense that he'd be asked to send the message to the closest potentially inhabitable planet to Earth, known as 581d. So Abetz and Carr both jotted down a message to send out, just in case any little green men were listening.
This is what Kim Carr said: "Hello from Australia on the planet we call Earth. These messages express our people's dreams for the future. We want to share those dreams with you."
It's nice, right? Open. Warm. Friendly. It makes Earth seem like the kind of place an alien would want to vacation in.
You might think Abetz would send a similarly friendly message, right? Wrong. This is what he wrote:
"The Coalition dreams that by the time you receive this message in 2029 Australia will be free of Labor debt. Sadly we're not holding our breath."
Although some people say the message was never actually sent.
@Rob_Stott @Colvinius Luckily moderator rejected as unsuitable before message sent. Doesn't diminish strangeness of obsessional thinking
@drspacejunk @weigh4d @alexanderwhite @SeanBradbery @snopes I personally vetted all 28,000+ messages. That one was never received or sent. 📡
Just in case the aliens wanted to know about Labor's debt and deficit. People are amazed.
Eric Abetz, R U OK?
Seriously, Eric Abetz? Your one shot at talking to aliens and you use it to take a dig at your political opponents? https://t.co/FUJweY3H1Y
Eric Abetz is determined to show the aliens how small-minded he can be. https://t.co/oBcRhWV8qF