Australians sink their teeth into the prime minister for eating a pie with cutlery
MALCOLM TURNBULL, Australia’s prime minister, has been ridiculed for using a knife and fork to eat a meat pie, prompting accusations that claims he has upended a venerated tradition and left the nation “forever changed”.
In a faux pas likened to the former Labour leader Ed Miliband’s awkward consumption of a bacon sandwich in 2014, Mr Turnbull sat down to eat a pie during a campaign stop in Tasmania and opted to use cutlery.
Footage of the incident was posted on his Instagram account and triggered fierce debate on social media.
“A pie that small should, and always will be, only eaten by a technique that is learned when you go to a school with a tuck shop,” wrote a Twitter user. “Two hands. Gently press down on the far side whilst slightly slurping the near side.” Australians typically eat a meat pie with their hands, and many consider it a native dish – though it is believed to date back at least as far as ancient Greece.
A report on the Ten Daily website said “Australia Is Forever Changed” and suggested the incident would not have secured any votes for Mr Turnbull, who has been campaigning before several by-elections on Saturday.
“Remember the old riddle, Malcolm,” said the report. “What’s the best thing to put into a pie? Your teeth.”
“[Mr Turnbull] has become the latest to join the pantheon of pollies [politicians] who look like aliens around regular foodstuff,” said a report in The Australian. But it expressed some sympathy for the prime minister. “It’s easy to laugh, but it is a minefield.”