There’s little sadder in life than a politician trying to make a pop-culture reference.
It’s not that they can’t tell a joke, it’s more the painful way they feel the need to ploddingly explain it for the thickies in the audience.
To that end the Greens’ Caroline Le Couteur is painfully referencing Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
“The other issue this bill addresses is the Arthur Dent situation*, by ensuring a neighbourhood knows when a house or garage is about to be demolished or built. This refers to impending developments which didn’t need public notification along the development approval process.
“I have also proposed an amendment to improve information on signs for DAs for lease variations – those signs now basically say nothing about the proposed changes. I am glad that the Government agrees that people would really rather see the detail of what is being proposed, rather than just being told to look on a website.
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* Arthur Dent, from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, wakes up one day to find bulldozers about to demolish his house to make room for a highway. Not only this, but Earth was to be demolished to make way for an intergalactic space highway. When Arthur asked the aliens why no one on Earth had been notified, they responded by saying that it had actually been in the galaxy notifications, it’s just a pity that Earthlings don’t have access to those communications channels.