Malcolm Turnbull divides opinion by using knife-and-fork to eat meat pie

Simon WhiteThe West Australian
Camera IconMalcolm Turnbull uses knife-and-fork to tuck into a pie.

Politicians will do just about anything for an edge in an election - and unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on how you view it) that means putting their eating etiquette up to be critiqued by punters.

Bill Shorten famously - and still totally inexplicably - bit into a sausage sizzle from the side while campaigning in Western Sydney on the day of the 2016 Federal Election.

In a probably unrelated matter, Labor lost that election...in a very related matter, the Opposition Leader was mercilessly mocked on social media for his awkward technique.

https://twitter.com/ellinghausen/status/749026235947241472

Now it’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who’s put himself up for judgment ahead of the Super Saturday by-election, courtesy of a story on his Instagram that featured him tucking into a meat pie with a knife-and-fork.

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Turnbull was campaigning in the northern Tasmanian town of Ulverstone in the electorate of Braddon, which is the subject of a by-election after Labor’s Justine Key resigned over dual citizenship issues.

Depending on where you sit - and we don’t necessarily mean that politically - the PM using cutlery to eat a meat pie is either a sensible decision from someone looking to protect a knitted jumper, crisp white shirt and fleecy jacket from mince and sauce or a sign of the approaching Armageddon.

https://twitter.com/BenFordham/status/1022592478547914753

But before we get into the full gamut of social media reactions, a couple of disclaimers.

The author of this story now no longer eats meat...but when he did, probably consumed pies with a knife and fork 90 per cent of the time. So I’m partly with the PM here.

And Shorten bounced back from his 2016 faux pas to enjoy a democracy sausage in more conventional fashion during last year’s WA election.

Camera IconThen aspiring premier Mark McGowan with his national leader Bill Shorten. Credit: The West Australian

Now on to the debate...

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