Interview with Fitzy & Wippa, Nova
19 October 2018
RYAN FITZGERALD: The Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins us now, ScoMo!
MICHEAL WIPFLI: ScoMo!
PRIME MINISTER: How are you going fellas?
WIPPA: Prime Minister how many times have you climbed the bridge?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve actually never done it before.
WIPPA: What?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I’ve trekked Kokoda and I’ve done all those sorts of things but I actually haven’t gone to the top of the Bridge, so it’s part of the tourist habits now, you get to climb the bridge with a fat middle aged guy.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: What are you like with heights? Because I’ve done it about four times. I remember my sister came with me once and there’s this sort of a grille part that you cross over at the start. She froze like a possum on a wire, it’s pretty scary stuff. Are you going to be okay?
PRIME MINISTER: I reckon mate, I’ll push through, I’ll push through.
FITZY: Did you, you went down to Bathurst as well a couple of weeks ago Scomo? Is that correct?
PRIME MINISTER: We did, Lilly my daughter and I went out and we did a hot lap with Mark Skaife.
FITZY: Get outta town.
WIPPA: Wow.
PRIME MINISTER: It was awesome.
FITZY: You didn’t take her up to the top of the mountain did you? Please no.
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, we didn’t stop at the top, we kept going at about 200kmph.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: God, okay.
FITZY: So what’s the etiquette when you meet the royals today? Have you been informed what you’re allowed to do Scott?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah look, they’ll run through it again with me today. I was talking to Jenny last night and they’ve been taking her through it all. The family is looking forward to it, my two girls are looking forward to it and Jenny has sort of gone out and she’s bought some presents for Meghan for the baby coming up.
WIPPA: Oh, great!
PRIME MINISTER: So that’ll be nice. It’ll be a very happy occasion and when a young couple is having their first child, I just think that’s one of the best things there is. So I’m looking forward to congratulating them on that and hearing about their excitement about that and what they’ve been getting back from Australians as they’ve been moving around. I think the trip up to Dubbo would have been pretty good and I was glad to see they’ve brought some rain with them.
WIPPA: Prime Minister, a lot of pressure when you’re buying first baby gifts. I wonder if you can reveal to us exactly what Jenny has bought yet, but can you give us an idea? What have you gone out and shopped for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s Snugglepot and Cuddlepie –
WIPPA: Oh, the gumnuts.
FITZY: Iconic.
PRIME MINISTER: Yep it is iconic and Jen has got a few things around that. She’s great at buying gifts for kids and for families having their first babies – and second and third, you know how many. That really lights her up so I think she really quite enjoyed going and doing that.
FITZY: And are you sticking around the Harbour for the weekend as well, have you got any official duties for the Invictus Games Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah I’ll be there at the opening, I’ll be speaking at the opening and looking forward to that. The Invictus Games I think is just going to be tremendous. Its going to be great for Sydney but it’s also going to be tremendous for all those service men and women and their families, because it’s just going to put a great deal of recognition on them. You know, we watch the Olympics and we watch the Comm Games and there’s great stories of courage there, certainly. But this is pretty special.
WIPPA: Beyond special.
FITZY: Scott I see you’re rolling out Johnny Howard around the Wentworth district over the last couple of days?
PRIME MINISTER: He’s doing aright mate, he’s still got it.
WIPPA: Oh yeah.
FITZY: The only thing I would do if I was you is I would get Johnny to wear his Australian tracksuit.
[Laughter]
I think the punters would love that.
WIPPA: Like he’s on a walk, doing quick handshakes and he hasn’t stopped since he left the gates of Kirribilli.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m at Kirribilli now, I better go and look in the closet and see if that tracksuit is there.
WIPPA: I recon.
PRIME MINISTER: Maybe I should don it today? Might be a little bit tight though we’re a little bit of a different size. That could be a bit unattractive.
[Laughter]
WIPPA: I would love to see you in that.
FITZY: The other thing is, while you’re at Kirribilli House, we’ve been, negotiations have been going on and mate, you’ve been great in this sense. But it look like the backyard cricket game could be going ahead, the charity game that we might having at the end of the year Mr Morrison?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
FITZY: We’re thinking about having a backyard cricket game at Kirribilli House.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah?
FITZY: Raising a lot of money for charity and we’d love to get you involved.
PRIME MINISTER: Mate that sounds like a great idea.
FITZY: Yeah?
PRIME MINISTER: I can throw the arm over a bit.
WIPPA: Okay, here we go.
FITZY: Unfortunately John Howard couldn’t.
PRIME MINISTER: No.
WIPPA: He wasn’t too good.
FITZY: And Bob Hawke got hit in the glasses, do you remember that when he went –
PRIME MINISTER: I remember both of those things. Each year I go and kick off the local rugby season down at my local electorate and the one image you have going through your head are those, particularly that bowling.
WIPPA: The Howard bowl, isn’t it.
PRIME MINISTER: Every politician dreads that, but good on John. That was the good thing about Mr Howard, you know, he’d always just be himself. I think that’s why people loved him so much and that why he was out there yesterday. It’s a pretty serious by-election tomorrow. All she has to do, Kerryn Phelps, is run second and if she runs seconds, well…
This week I was very pleased that unemployment down to five per cent. I know this an FM programme and I don’t want to get too serious on you.
WIPPA: No, no.
PRIME MINISTER: Unemployment is down to five per cent. We passed laws this week which get small business taxes, family business taxes down to 25 per cent. And we passed a bill which opens up trade to half a billion customers around the Pacific area, across the Americas and across Asia. So that’s what actually really happened in Canberra this week. There was a whole bunch of other gump and gossip and gubble that went on and that’s why I think a lot of people turn off politics. But that’s the stuff that matters. And that’s the stuff at risk tomorrow. Because I mean, I’ve known Kerryn Phelps for a long time and I’m not having an argument with her.
WIPPA: Yep.
PRIME MINISTER: But she’s said that if she’s elected, that she couldn’t say she would support the Government in a confidence motion. So that would mean that we could have a change of Government and certainly, I don’t think that’s going to be good for the economy and I don’t think people would want to see Bill Shorten Prime Minister in that way.
FITZY: That’s right. Alright good luck over the weekend, get your overalls on and thank you very much for joining us Prime Minister. We appreciate it.
PRIME MINISTER: Good to talk to you boys.
