Southern River MP Terry Healy offers Bluey gnomes to constituents after ornament sells out at Bunnings

A Labor MP has compared the popularity of Bluey-themed gnomes to the scarcity of toilet paper at the start of COVID and is giving away free gnomes to some lucky constituents. Bunnings has temporarily rebranded its Cannington store — along with others across Australia — as ‘Hammerbarn’ after the hardware store that features in an episode of the hit ABC cartoon. Soon after the rebrand, Bluey character gnomes sold out — with some of the ornaments showing up on sites like eBay where people were reselling them for more than $100. Southern River MP Terry Healy on Tuesday showed parliament a Jeremy and Hecuba gnome his office was giving away to people who entered a contest on his Facebook page. “I’m a dad of two kids, just like (Bluey’s dad) Bandit, and people are absolutely loving Hammerbarn right now,” the MP said. “Not everyone is available to get to Bunnings at 7am to fight through the crowds. These $19 (gnomes) are now retailing for over $100, given the demand.” Mr Healy said his electorate office had made available a free program, with gnome hunters only required to share the post to enter. “I’m aware that so many families are really struggling (and) can’t afford to bid online for these things,” he said. “I want to make sure that my community knows that we’ll always make sure that there are fun, free family things.” After another politician asked “are they popular?,” Mr Healy responded that he was at Bunnings when they had a limit of four Bluey gnomes per person — which had since dropped to two. “It reminded me, actually, of the toilet paper craziness during COVID. It has been very, very intense,” he said.