“State Daddy” is a description of West Australian Premier Mark McGowan that he is not entirely comfortable with, but one woman now has some permanent ink to remind her of the leader.
The woman went to Ellenbrook tattoo parlour Obsidian Ink to get her tattoo of Mr McGowan, showing him drinking a beer with the words “State Daddy” written alongside the image.
Artist Ethan Cascarino told NCA NewsWire the process took him about one hour to complete.
“It was a really fun tattoo to do. I think it was really funny,” he said.
Mr Cascarino said he had initially been given instructions to do an outline silhouette-style image of the Premier, but when the woman arrived to get the ink she then asked him to add the words.
“I said of course you can,” he laughed.
Mr Cascarino posted the image on Instagram with the caption: “Daddy Mark at it again keepin’ us safe from the outside world.”
Mr McGowan was asked about the ink at a press conference on Friday and described it as “breathtaking”, then laughed as he queried the wording on the tattoo.
“Will someone please advise me what that means? I’ve asked my kids lots of times and they won’t tell me,” he said.
“I wouldn’t recommend getting me tattooed on you ... I’m pretty sure in years to come anyone who does that will regret it.”
It is not the first time the Labor leader’s image has been etched onto the body of one of his admirers.
Tayla Boyce chose an image of the Premier looking serious with his hands on his hips.
He donned a red tie and also had a red halo around him.
Artist Hayley Chiplin posted the image on Instagram last month, with part of the caption reading: “Probably my favourite tattoo of all time!”
Of course, no one could forget the tattoo a man got on his leg depicting Mr McGowan as the rapper 2Pac.
The ink showed the Premier wearing a 2Pac-style bandana with the words “Westside bitches” written underneath.
It prompted Mr McGowan to joke that he might start wearing a bandana.
“Fortunately with tattoos, I understand you can get them removed these days, so I’d urge that bloke to get it removed as soon as possible,” the Premier said at the time.
Asked if he identified with the slogan, Mr McGowan said: “I don’t even know what that means and I don’t want to even speculate on what that means, and I’ve never worn a bandana.”
Mr McGowan remains hugely popular in Western Australia as a result of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He led Labor to an historic win at the state election in March, with Labor snatching many blue-ribbon seats.
It seems whenever Mr McGowan’s press conferences are held in a public place these days there is always someone yelling their support for him.
Memes also continue to circulate on social media depicting the 53-year-old as a sex symbol, including one showing him as the character Magic Mike, who was a stripper played by Channing Tatum in a popular film.
While Mr McGowan has been criticised on the east coast for repeatedly shutting the state border to some jurisdictions, it seems many in the west continue to back him.
So, despite Mr McGowan’s embarrassment over his sex symbol status, it seems the “State Daddy” tag is here to stay.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xaKlmqaTmny4u9GkZqWdkZmys7%2BOsKammZ5itKbA0magppmXmnqwsoywnKysXZbCtMDRmqOimZ5ivbOxzKKcq2Wdlr%2BsecycnqivkaN6ta3TraaonZRivK95x56pZpmionyvsdasZKysn6fGcH2Tb26cnJKbrqWxj2tpb5thZYB1hMOdcGubYZezdK2P