Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce had an unexpected new target in his sights during the last parliament sitting fortnight -- the trendy inner-west Sydney suburb of Annandale. Now, after the village fought back and invited him over to have a drink and meet some locals, Joyce has dropped in for a beer.
Joyce mentioned Annandale -- a small, skinny neighbourhood just to the west of the Sydney CBD, sandwiched between the larger suburbs of Leichhardt, Rozelle and Newtown -- five times in the first nine days of the new parliamentary sitting year.
- "They are more interested in Annandale than they are in Adelaide";
- "The trouble with the Labor Party these days is they are fighting a battle, not for the working men and women of Australia, but they are fighting a battle for Annandale";
- "The Labor Party have to determine whose side they are on. Are you on the side of working men and women, or are you on the side of Annandale?"
The inner-west started fighting back. Darcy Byrne, the former mayor of Leichhardt, challenged Joyce to visit the area and meet some locals. Anthony Albanese, the member for Grayndler which takes in Annandale, also invited the deputy PM around for a drink, telling him to "get off his high horse and drop into [local pub] Wayward for a beer with the locals".
The famous Annandale Hotel even invented a drink and burger in Joyce's honour -- the Freedom of Joyce cocktail, featuring gin and cranberry juice, and a special burger of beef, bacon, rocket, truffle mayo and Texan BBQ sauce -- the hotel's management told The Huffington Post Australia.
Then, barely an hour after posting the above challenge to Joyce, the man himself actually turned up at the pub. That's the Freedom of Joyce cocktail in front of him.
HuffPost Australia contacted Joyce's office to see what he found out about Annandale on his visit, or even if he just enjoyed the suburb, but they had not yet provided comment.
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