Malcolm Turnbull told to 'grow a sense of humour' after calling ABC shirt-front skit 'pathetic' Malcolm Turnbull is being urged to "grow a sense of humour" after the Communications Minister failed to see the funny side of a skit broadcast by the ABC, which ridiculed Prime Minister Tony Abbott's threat to shirt-front Vladimir Putin. The segment took aim at Mr Abbott's aborted threat to shirtfront - a football term describing a front-on clash - the Russian President over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. It pitted the leaders' physical abilities against each other and mocked the pair's penchant for appearing before cameras in sporting and swimming gear. Not amused: Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull Photo: Rob Homer "Our very own cyclist taking on a bear-riding, sports-fishing, gun-toting, judo-wrestling, tiger-slaying, dolphin-wrangling former KGB spy," narrated Kirsten Drysdale. Mr Turnbull has told News Corp the skit "would have been a pretty path­etic segment on The Chaser" and added that it "wasn't funny and was in very poor taste." The ABC defended the segment as a continuation of the 730's "long tradition of using satire in its coverage of serious political news and events" and likened it to the popular Clarke and Dawe segments. "Our coverage was very similar to the widespread satirising of the shirt-front issue in other domestic and international media," an ABC spokesman said in a statement. Labor's communication's spokesman Jason Clare backed the national broadcaster and urged Mr Turnbull to "grow a sense of humour." But Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, who has long been calling for cuts to the ABC's budget, said 7.30's skit was another example of the broadcaster's bias and showed why its budget should be slashed. "I've said for some time the ABC has become an unaccountable bloated and biased bureaucracy," Senator Bernardi said on Thursday. That is so far removed from public opinion; it needs to reflect not only its charter but value for taxpayers money. It does neither, this is just another example of the ABC being a law unto itself," he told Fairfax Media. Leigh Sales, host of 7.30, appeared to distance herself from the skit on Thursday, tweeting: "I can robustly make my case in editorial meetings but ultimately, I have to present what's commissioned." The government's criticism comes against the backdrop of further cuts to the ABC's budget, which Mr Turnbull has finalised but not yet announced. Tony Abbott promised there would be no cuts to the ABC or SBS's funding on the eve of the 2013 federal election. It's feared up to 500 staff from the public broadcasters could lose their jobs as a result of the government's broken promise, which could see cuts of up to $300 million over the next five years. Poll: Is Malcolm Turnbull right about the 7.30 shirt-front sketch? Yes, it wasn't funny and was in poor taste No, he needs to grow a sense of humour Total votes: 5029.