Barry Humphries Flashbacks- The 1980s- Paul Keating

A segment from the Australian TV series 'Barry Humphries Flashbacks', which originally aired as a four part series on the ABC in 1999. A historical retrospective of Australia during the latter half of the 20th Century, each episode focused on a specific decade:
Part 1- The 1950s
Part 2- The 1960s
Part 3- The 1970s
Part 4- The 1980s
The series featured Humphries' reflections on Australia throughout those decades, with help from his alter egos Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson, and Sandy Stone. This particular recording comes from a rebroadcast on the History Channel on Foxtel in 2019.

This particular segment, from Part 4, 'The 1980s', features Humphries and Sir Les Patterson discussing Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia from 1991-1996. This particular clip discussed his time as Australia's Treasurer, from 1983-1991. Sir Les doesn't think too highly of him, referring to him as 'The Undertaker', 'Killjoy Keating', and 'Kibosh Keating'.

Note: Apologies for the quality of parts of the video- there were some reception problems.


Vaxfacts: Sir Les Patterson is one of Australia's most iconic characters, with Humphries having debuted him in January 1974 at the St George Leagues Club. The complete opposite to Humphries' other famous creation, Dame Edna Everage, Patterson is rather uncouth, whose sense of humour can be perceived by many to be sexist or racist. He served in many roles in the private and public sector, serving as a cultural attache, and most notably, as the 'Minister for the "Yartz"'.