Comedian Dave Hughes has been a lifelong Labor voter — but even he has had enough of the Albanese-Chalmers show and the sad state of Australian politics.
The sight of an apoplectic Hughes ranting at what irks him has been a mainstay of Australian comedy for more than 30 years. And it’s seen the 55-year-old become the nation’s favourite larrikin, on popular TV shows such and a variety of radio networks.
But lately his trademark anger has consistently focused on one target — the Albanese Government — particularly since Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled his now-infamous May Budget.
The Budget sparked furious debate with its controversial attacks on negative gearing and capital gains tax — which Labor specifically denied it would do at last year’s election.
Those broken election promises enraged Hughes and he has not held back when directing vitriol at besieged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“If I’d known they were going to do that, I wouldn’t have voted for them,” the comic said in a viral post on social media last month.
I voted for Albo and Chalmers. They didn’t have a mandate for changing capital gains tax . . . What the f... are you doing?
“Your bumbling, fumbling idiotic responses when questioned this week, by both Albo and Chalmers and every other minister in that f...ing stupid government, just solidified the fact that we need another election because you didn’t have a mandate for it . . . you lied blatantly, so it’s not valid, so let’s go to the polls again. Put it to the people.”
He doubled down on morning television this month.
“Guys, they lied to Australia and you cannot do that,” Hughes said.
“This has cost the whole country so much money already, the housing market has tanked, they’ve cost every Australian who owns a home probably 15 per cent of their housing value, you can’t lie about that Jim and Albo, you can’t do that.
“The people in charge of our country are idiots.
“They treat our money like they found it in a sack by the river and they’ve gotta spend it before someone finds out.”
Why the Budget set Hughes off so spectacularly is hard to parse, because in subsequent videos he said he had never negatively geared a property and his financial situation won’t suffer irreparable damage due to CGT changes.
Indeed, that last point has led some to question if an entertainer with a multi-million-dollar property portfolio should be a self-appointed voice of the people.
However, Hughes confirmed his blue-collar roots in a recent interview.
“I’ve always been a Labor voter,” he said.
“My dad was a factory worker, mum’s a nurse, so I grew up in that sort of working-class family and carried that through my whole life, long after I became financially independent.”
And the comic’s newfound standing as a political pundit is no longer just restricted to the Budget.
“I heard Albo on the radio yesterday and he said they don’t have to be citizens to take advantage of the first homebuyers scheme,” he said.
“So, basically there are over 50,000 people bidding against Australians at auctions, who don’t want to give up citizenship of their home country and he has given them our money to buy houses in Australia.
“I am happy for you to stay here, or if you want to go home you can go home, but you are not getting our money to buy houses here.
“That’s insane.”
But the comedian claimed to be politically agnostic this week.
Appearing on the Behind the Mic podcast, Hughes was asked by host Mike Etheridge, point blank, if he was politically left or right.
“The labels shit me,” Hughes replied.
“I wanna be common sense.”
Of course, not everyone agrees with his brand of common sense.
Earlier this week Hughes posted a video of himself on social media, featuring the sound of birds welcoming the sunrise in Newcastle.
“Hear that? These birds are saying, ‘F... you, Albo,” the comic added.
Hardly the most sophisticated political commentary, and social media users let him know in the comments.
“The guy legit needs help,” offered one user in a comment that attracted nearly 300 likes.
“Has anyone tried turning Dave off and turning him back on again, that might fix this,” posted another.
Whether Hughes has made a permanent political shift is uncertain, and one should be wary of making definitive determinations based on a few social media posts and TV appearances.
It is possible the veteran entertainer sees an opportunity.
Scanning his Instagram profile, it’s apparent anti-Albo content is a hit.
While posts of his past standup performances attract a modest 50,000 to 100,000 views, videos in which Hughes launches a tirade at Albanese regularly top the million-view mark.
The aforementioned post-Budget rant attracted 2.1 million views, another about Albanese’s property portfolio garnered 2 million, one about CGT got 1.8 million and the bird-call vid earned 1.2 million.
Hughes has always known outrage sells, now he’s just found a new and never-ending source of material to generate it.
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails