THE backlash from the Prince Philip's knighting has continued with Member for Riverina and parliamentary secretary Michael McCormack weighing into the debate.
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Earlier this week he told The Area News the decision put the government on the "back-foot".
“He’s just not thought it through and I don’t know why he’s done it,” he said.
“If I said there weren’t rumblings, or disquiet about that particular decision, I wouldn’t be correct.”
Mr McCormack followed that up today urging Prime Minister Tony Abbott to visit Grong Grong to find out what country Australians think. He encouraged Mr Abbott to visit the Royal Hotel and get away from the "tea leaf reading groups" who set the hashtags on social media.
Mr McCormack said unlike the "texting, latte sipping, keyboard warriors who frequent the tapas bars of Melbourne and Sydney", "real fair dinkum Australians" in the country didn't have time to tweet all day but had time to reflect at the end of the day and would be unafraid to give the Prime Minister an "honest appraisal" of his work over a shandy.
Mr McCormack's comments spread quickly on social media - a format Mr Abbott earlier called "electronic graffiti".