When I heard there was a steer running around Parliament House, my first thought was the treasurer and premier had donned a cow suit to distract West Aussies away from the recent brutal state budget.
Bovine baloney aside, a steer actually hoofed it away from a herd of waiting media and politicians on Wednesday morning at Parliament House.
I mean, you expect the occasional bit of bull to come from pollies from the top of the hill, but this is absurd.
Winston and his bovine buddy Clementine were on the grassy knoll of parliament helping to promote mental health awareness as part of the RUOK? Day.
The handler lost control of Winston who appeared to make a beeline for an ABC cameraman but at the last moment did a sidestep that Wallabies' great David Campese would be proud of.
The steer's last second decision to dodge the cameraman will only fuel the conspiracy inside the bowels of the Liberal party about the left-leaning media in WA steering the agenda.
There is also a rumour the cow got spooked after it got a whiff of the Liberals' election bloodbath wafting from the corridors of parliament and thought it was heading into an abattoir.
(Maybe given the minuscule number of Liberal MPs left after the March election caning, the steer wanted to help beef-up the numbers for the opposition?)
While Winston was a no show at the media conference, Clementine did her best to keep the absurdity going by peeing all over the grass in front of Parliament House.
Regional Affairs Minister Alannah MacTiernan, who has always shied away from running with the cattle in her own party, couldn't resist the political opportunity to seize on the moment. "The cow's pissing it in," she said.
Dardanup farmer Peter Milton tried to steer the media conference back on the subject of men's mental health, but left journalists slightly bemused by saying Clementine would be appearing at a barbecue in the coming days.
A quick-thinking journalist wanted to know whether the cow was going to be the guest or on the menu.
Mr Milton said Clementine would be "walking away" from the BBQ.
"It was Winston's first day out of the shed in three months, his first public appearance. I guess he got a bit embarrassed,' Mr Milton said.
"He's got another appointment tomorrow at an RUOK? barbecue, south of Bunbury."
WAtoday understands Winston has been approached by numerous political parties as a possible candidate in 2021 WA state election.
