Minister roasts ‘desperate Papa Smurf’

LABOR’S David O’Byrne has laughed his way out of Parliament after he spent most st of yesterday’s Question Time deflecting personal jabs.

The State Government spent part of the hour roasting the Opposition spokesman for roads and infrastructure, taking aim at his new beard and a “desperate” press release he sent out yesterday erday morning celebrating the first meeting of a Labor infrastructure t ture advisory council.

Mr O’Byrne returned to Parliament after its summer break sporting a healthy beard, d, giving his colleagues enough personal fodder for the hour.

“[Mr O’Byrne] is sitting there thinking he looks like a small Sean Connery when really he looks more like a tall l Papa Smurf,” Treasurer Peter Gutwein joked.

But Mr O’Byrne didn’t take e the jab lying down, clapping back: : “Is that right, Dr Evil?”

But the Government wasn’t ’ t quite done with Mr O’Byrne, also taking aim at his press release, in which he called the e first meeting of Labor’s Building, Construction and Infrastructure Industry Advisory Council “positive” and hailed it a “success”.

“[O’Byrne] is so desperate for relevance he produced a media release this morning celebrating, none other, than himself,” Infrastructure Minister ster Jeremy Rockliff told Parliament, ent, to raucous laughter from both sides of the House.