Dictionary

Dorothy Dixer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Named after US advice columnist Dorothy Dix (1870–1951), who reputedly invented some of the more interesting readers’ questions she answered, + -er.

Meanings

1. (Australian) A question asked of a minister by a member of their own party, to give the minister the opportunity to promote the government's work, criticise the opposition, etc.
   • The real and nasty political attack came later, in question time, when every Labor minister who stood in response to a Dorothy Dixer did so in order to aim a new kick at the cods of the Opposition leader, from a different direction. 2010, Annabel Crabb, Rise of the Ruddbot: Observations from the Gallery, page 244:
   • On both sides of the chamber, Question Time became highly programmed. This led on the Government side to questions, almost without exception, being Dorothy Dixers of the worst kind.[…]The total domination of this sort of Dorothy Dixer under the Keating Government reduced the use of Question Time considerably. 2006, Julian Disney, J. R. Nethercote, The House on Capital Hill: Parliament, Politics, and Power in the National Capital, page 226:
   • Betraying not a sign of the general mayhem he had just created, he answered a Dorothy Dixer about television violence. 2002, Don Watson, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM, page 273:

Forms

Relateds

Question Time

Synonyms

dixer