HERE'S our alternative version of the Labor attack ad which stars a paid actress who complains on her personal blog about the price of Spanish handmade tiles.
Our remake, which features the voice of reporter Caroline Marcus, highlights the tough times faced by actress Susannah Hardy, who was paid to make the campaign ad in which she shares her fear of Tony Abbott cutbacks.
In real life, though, 'Sour Susie' uses her blog Dreaming of a Dishwasher to complain about more pressing issues - the price of Spanish tiles (and how she had to pay extra for shipping) the joy of ultra-quiet dishwashers, and how she's loving living with her parents (who provide gourmet food and wine) while her Paddington home is renovated
Earlier, the Daily Telegraph reported that the actress mother hired to bag Tony Abbott in a negative Labor TV ad campaign actually lives with her parents, enjoying their gourmet food and wines, while whingeing about the price of Spanish handmade tiles.
Hardy is being paid by Labor to pretend she fears cutbacks from an Abbott government while, in real life, undertaking expensive renovations to her dream Sydney home, complete with a "stylish stainless steel dishwasher that only makes 42 decibels of noise".
Hardy, whose acting credits include Packed To The Rafters, Blue Heelers and Wish You Were Here, has become the "Sour Susie" of the 2013 election, reviving memories of Bob Hawke's "Whingeing Wendy" in 1987.
Her agent said yesterday Hardy, who also writes articles about kitchens and bathrooms for glossy home magazines, lives in Paddington, in Sydney's leafy east.
Her posts on her blog reveal a woman who loves to live with style - rather than fretting about the number of nurses and teachers employed by governments like the hard-working mother she portrays in the attack ad. The 44-year-old boasted on her blog last weekend that her lawyer husband and their two daughters, aged 5 and 2, had been living with her parents for the past 10 weeks while undertaking renovations.
"Being a Parent Never Ends - at least not for my parents,'' she wrote. "I've cooked about three meals in 10 weeks and yet have enjoyed countless gourmet dinners.
"Apart from one vacuum, I've done no cleaning and not really sure if I've changed our sheets or towels. My parents wine supply is slowly diminishing because my husband and I have whole-heartedly embraced the pre-dinner drink and chat.''
Hardy's parents are also helping by looking after the children. "Friday night, they babysat our children and I think we're going out next Saturday night as well," she wrote.
But life can be hard when you've got renovations to worry about - even if you aren't concerned about whether Mr Abbott has got something to hide.
"I was furious!'' she wrote earlier, referring to a misunderstanding over a bill. "I hadn't been told about a courier charge, which would add another $15 onto my expensive Spanish handmade tiles. Not a lot I know but it's the principal [sic]."
Hardy tells how she once lived in Paris and "before kids . . . was known for my shoes". "Then pregnancy, childbirth and a mortgage changed everything," she laments.
But the thought of one day being in her new kitchen, with "sexy" appliances, lifts her spirits: "The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that somewhere in a factory in Sydney is a dishwasher with my name on it - a stylish stainless steel dishwasher that only makes 42 decibels of noise.''
"So now when my builder calls, I take a deep breath and visualise myself stacking the dishwasher and all those extra costs and potentially disastrous household features simply slip through my tense little fingers.''
But it's unlikely Hardy's star political role will help her achieve the New Year's resolution she set at the start of the year.
"I want to be subtle. I want to be mysterious. I want people to ask: 'Who is that woman and what's her story?' . . . So this is the year of keeping things a little closer to my chest.''
Labor campaign director George Wright confirmed last night that Hardy was a professional actress, but said he wasn't aware if Hardy was a member of the Labor Party.
