Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister told in Parliament she has a “shit eating grin”

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was told in Parliament Thursday evening by an Opposition front bencher that she has a “shit eating grin.”

Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Tony Abbot made the jibe at Gillard as she left Parliament Thursday following heated debate during Question time over the Australian Government’s bailout program for the Australian building industry.

The program, which the Australian Government claims is an investment in Australian schools, is a AU$14 billion ($12 billion) program that sees existing infrastructure in schools replaced by new, but primarily duplicate infrastructure, or what the Opposition calls the “Julia Gillard Memorial Schools Program.” Each school must also display a sign praising the program on their boundaries (sometimes two signs), advertising that the Australian Electoral Commission has deemed to be “political material” that requires authorization in line with general election material.

Gillard dismissed the comment, telling ABC News that “Tony’s made a remark – he can explain it. [it] Doesn’t particularly concern me. I think I was doing what I normally do in Question Time, which is I spent a bit of time laughing and joking with some of my colleagues.”