The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has apologised after accusing Labor of creating a “holocaust” in defence industry jobs, with the use of the word slammed by some as offensive.
However, it isn’t the first time the word has been used in such a way in parliament. Using OpenAustralia’s searchable Hansard, which goes back to 2006, we can count the number of times the word has been used, and how.
In its more common usage, to refer to the Holocaust, it has been used about 109 times, by members of all parties. It has also been used less frequently to refer to a “nuclear holocaust”.
General usage of the term is infrequent, but it has been used by members of all parties:
Bob Katter, in particular, has used the term generally at least four times, referring to an “holocaust of economic rationalism”, and an “environmental holocaust”.
The phrase has also been used generally by the Greens’ Scott Ludlam to describe dangers to the economy and the environment, and by Labor’s Anthony Byrne to refer to bushfires.
It’s not the only contentious hyperbole to get a workout in parliament. For an entirely arbitrary comparison, here’s a look at the use of the word ‘tsunami’:
The word is either used to reference an actual natural disaster, such as the Boxing Day tsunami that devastated southern Asia, or metaphorically.
Metaphorical use of the word undoubtedly reached its peak during an address by Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who described the government’s task as “to repair the sea of debris, the oceans of debt and the tsunami of deficits”.
