No offence: Federal Liberal frontbencher Greg Hunt described carbon tax release day as "Sunday bloody Sunday".
The Federal Shadow Minister for Environment, Greg Hunt, has said he did not intend to refer to “the 1972 incident in Ireland” when he used the term “Sunday bloody Sunday” to describe the Gillard Government’s impending carbon tax announcement, days before it was released on Sunday, July 10.
Bloody Sunday is widely known within historical and political parlance to refer to the shooting of 13 unarmed men by British Army paratroopers at a civil rights march in Derry in January 1972.
The day is seen by many as the spark that lit 30 years of the Troubles that followed.
It is over a year since the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday killings was published, after a 12-year inquiry.
The report’s release led British Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise for what he called “unjustified and unjustifiable” killings.
Mr Hunt, the Opposition’s spokesman on climate change, used the phrase on the ABC’s World Today radio programme on Tuesday, July 5.
Mr Hunt was one of a number of MPs asked by ABC’s chief political correspondent, Sabra Lane, what the carbon tax
announcement would mean.
Independent MP Tony Windsor said it would be “a momentous occasion”. Greens senator Christine Milne said she was “delighted that we’re finally going to be out there this weekend with the whole package”.
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz said: “Sunday will become a defining day I trust for the Labor-Green Government in that the people of Australia will reject them now.”
“This will be Sunday bloody Sunday,” said Greg Hunt.
In a statement released to the Irish Echo Mr Hunt said he regrets that his words could have been misinterpreted. He stopped short of apologising.
“I made the comments as a figure of speech, which is widely used in Australia, the comments were not intended to refer to the 1972 incident in Ireland,” said Mr Hunt.
“I regret any sense that they could be misinterpreted as making a reference to that incident, that was not my intention.”
July 13th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
“I made the comments as a figure of speech, which is widely used in Australia,” In what circles is it widely used Mr Hunt? and in what context? I have never heard it used except if people are referring to the U2 song and normally they are singing it (very badly) and most often had too much to drink. This is just another example of a bone headed politician using extreme language out of all context.
July 24th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Comment was made flippantly again on 9news with reference to a rugby league game between the Rabbithos and Warriors
“And there was no plugging the points, it was Sunday bloody Sunday for the Rabbithos”