There is an old saying about kids in kindergarten. When a young boy pulls a girl’s hair it is actually a sign of affection.

That saying crystallised recently in parliament as the Liberal’s Peter Collier and Labor’s Ljiljanna Ravlich ripped into each other through a series of parliamentary Question Time sparring sessions.

It is always entertaining when politicians dislike each other, more so when the repugnance is so strong, that they may actually like each other.

At least that’s what it seemed like this week up the ‘hill’.

The Collier/Ravlich rivalry is fast becoming WA’s version of the relationship between Tony ‘Punch’ Abbott and Julia ‘Judy’ Gillard.

The tension resonates each time Question Time rolls around.

Last Tuesday was a prime example. Protestors rallying over a much more serious matter disrupted parliament and were ejected from the house. When proceedings resumed the Labor MP was standing ready with her question, leading one Government member to note that the ‘real’ trouble was about to begin.

The dispute was actually quite minor: Ms Ravlich claimed the number of apprentices in training had fallen under the current government. Mr Collier says she got the numbers wrong. Then the fun started. The Minister for Training attempted to answer the question while his opposite number sat coiled like a spring and yapped insults across the chamber. “You’ve got no idea, I’m going to prove you wrong sunshine,” she barked.

The Minister, a former school teacher, sighed deeply and forgot every lesson he had given on bullying.

“Mr President everyone involved in this matter is trying to work together to get the best result, except that is for little Ms Nelly No Friends over here!”

In a former life Mr Collier was also a professional tennis coach and it is just as well, as Ravlich hurled an indecipherable volley of abuse across the chamber at the Minister.

The next day was no better. Ms Ravlich continued to bang on about apprentice trainees. The abuse rose to a crescendo, leaving the President of the upper house Barry House to put things in perspective: “I’m not sure what it is about you two but you bring out the worst in each other and it’s having a negative influence on some of the other members.”

The Minister was forced to revert to his old student manual as he worked his way through Ms Ravlich’s question. Each time she interjected he would extend his palm in a ‘stop’ motion, exclaiming “Ah!” At one stage I thought he was going to reprimand the Labor MP for ‘hands on head’ until he had finished.

If Mr Collier was playing teacher, then the rest of the chamber was doing its best to play the part of unruly students.

“Someone misses being a school teacher,” Labor’s Ken Travers whined across the house, met by an equally lame “Someone missed being in Government” from Transport Minister Simon O’Brien. “I know you are, you said you are.”, and so on.

Politics and affection? Oil and Water.

There is an old saying about kids in kindergarten. When a young boy pulls a girl’s hair it is actually a sign of affection.

That saying crystallised recently in parliament as the Liberal’s Peter Collier and Labor’s Ljiljanna Ravlich ripped into each other through a series of parliamentary Question Time sparring sessions.

It is always entertaining when politicians dislike each other, more so when the repugnance is so strong, that they may actually like each other.

At least that’s what it seemed like this week up the ‘hill’.

The Collier/Ravlich rivalry is fast becoming WA’s version of the relationship between Tony ‘Punch’ Abbott and Julia ‘Judy’ Gillard.

The tension resonates each time Question Time rolls around.

Last Tuesday was a prime example. Protestors rallying over a much more serious matter disrupted parliament and were ejected from the house. When proceedings resumed the Labor MP was standing ready with her question, leading one Government member to note that the ‘real’ trouble was about to begin.

The dispute was actually quite minor: Ms Ravlich claimed the number of apprentices in training had fallen under the current government. Mr Collier says she got the numbers wrong. Then the fun started. The Minister for Training attempted to answer the question while his opposite number sat coiled like a spring and yapped insults across the chamber. “You’ve got no idea, I’m going to prove you wrong sunshine,” she barked.

The Minister, a former school teacher, sighed deeply and forgot every lesson he had given on bullying.

“Mr President everyone involved in this matter is trying to work together to get the best result, except that is for little Ms Nelly No Friends over here!”

In a former life Mr Collier was also a professional tennis coach and it is just as well, as Ravlich hurled an indecipherable volley of abuse across the chamber at the Minister.

The next day was no better. Ms Ravlich continued to bang on about apprentice trainees. The abuse rose to a crescendo, leaving the President of the upper house Barry House to put things in perspective: “I’m not sure what it is about you two but you bring out the worst in each other and it’s having a negative influence on some of the other members.”

The Minister was forced to revert to his old student manual as he worked his way through Ms Ravlich’s question. Each time she interjected he would extend his palm in a ‘stop’ motion, exclaiming “Ah!” At one stage I thought he was going to reprimand the Labor MP for ‘hands on head’ until he had finished.

If Mr Collier was playing teacher, then the rest of the chamber was doing its best to play the part of unruly students.

“Someone misses being a school teacher,” Labor’s Ken Travers whined across the house, met by an equally lame “Someone misses being in Government” from Transport Minister Simon O’Brien. “I know you are, you said you are.”, and so on.

Politics and affection? Oil and Water.