When Joe Hockey was Minister for Human Services and later Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the 2004-2007 Howard period he often visited government offices in North Queensland and frequently left his mark on the premises: his noble name boldly written on an interior wall...a kind of government approved graffiti. He and his wife so loved North Queensland they bought a 200 hectare cattle property in 2003 at Malanda , on the Atherton Tablelands , near Cairns , sold 40 hectares last year and put the remainder up for $1.5million.
With the passage of time and change of government , the illustrious Honourable Hockey signatures were painted over , at cost to the public purse , which is a shame because they could have been included in the gallery of notable graffiti daubers such as Foo, Kilroy and Eternity , the latter a religious gent, as is the Treasurer , who once gave a speech, In Defence of God, at the Sydney Institute .
Proof that God does indeed move in mysterious ways is Hockey's recent, unexpected support for a republic which upset some of his colleagues , including the PM, and no doubt Professor Flint . Some pundits , who sniff glue and trends, interpreted this strange act by the Treasurer as writing on the wall meaning that Joe has switched his support to the leather upholstered , arch- republican , Malcolm Turnbull , the only man seen as capable of preventing the Coalition being plunged into the political Hades if the PM continues as leader .
"Foo was here" graffiti was widely used by Australian troops in World War l and then in the next global conflict. The Yanks used " Kilroy was here" in the second world war. Little Darwin was reliably informed that removal of the Hockey monicker , at times , saw an entire office repainted , not just the wall on which it appeared.
