REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday August 3, 2006

THIS time the boys from ABC TV’s The Chaser’s War On Everything went too far.

Just a few weeks after the infamous screwdriver incident involving Prime Minister John Howard, the Chaser boys interrupted the PM’s daily walk with a stupid prank that could have gone terribly wrong.

Midway through the PM’s 35minute walk along Surfers Paradise beach, Chaser presenter Craig Reucassel produced a fake axe and a disabled chainsaw.

Mr Howard got a laugh out of the axe prank, but his security quickly ushered Mr Reucassel away when he produced the chainsaw. The incident was filmed by a Chaser employee.

The TV satirists were making fun of a security scare in Melbourne where the Prime Minister was hugged by a schoolboy supporter carrying a screwdriver.

The Chaser’s War On Everything was a satirical current affairs show that had Australian politicians and business identities as their main fodder.

They were well known among metropolitan media for hijacking dull press conferences and turning them into entertainment.

However, some people believe the comic team’s edgy brand of humour went too far. Unamused police charged the Chaser’s Chas Licciardello with offensive conduct after a prank at an NRL match in Sydney, when he tried to sell fake knives, knuckledusters and flares to supporters.

The stunt came at a time when the Canterbury club, playing there that day, was trying to clamp down on violence at its games.

Meanwhile, Mr Howard, wearing his now traditional green and gold tracksuit, declared the Gold Coast among “the great tourist cities of the world”.