Interview with Gold FM, Gold Coast
5 November 2018
PRESENTER: We love a Prime Minister who has a nickname and he is travelling around in the Scomobile. It’s great that you’re investing time in Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: Well we are and we are investing in the Gold Coast, I’ve just announced the $112 million for stage three of the Gold Coast light rail, from Burleigh to Broadbeach. That’s a big investment. The Gold Coast light rail, I think, has been a tremendous investment for the Gold Coast, really changes the city, made is so much more accessible for people to live here and for people to visit. It’s a great project, we’re going to keep backing it in.
PRESENTER: Yeah it is. It’s been fantastic and now going all the way to the heavy rail as well. We see the difference, especially at some of our big events that the light rail is one of the major infrastructures now of the Gold Coast and there are so many towns now trying to copy it that it’s been testing now, and soon not only to Burleigh but it will get to the airport.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll get it to Burleigh. We’re the first to stump up for stage three. It’s $122 million so we’ve almost put $600 million into this project to date with that commitment. So we’re doing our share and we’re just keen for the state government and the council now to come in and also support stage three. I mean they’ve also got the lion’s share responsibility there, after all they are the state government, it’s their state. We are stumping up and we are here to make the project, I mean 2,400 jobs will be in the construction alone. But it’s more the longer term benefit. Population growth here on the Gold Coast is high, it’s a growing city and it needs the infrastructure so we are backing it in, along with the M1 and everything else.
PRESENTER: You’re like the parent you go to when the other parent says no. So that parent, that’s the State Government, says no, and then you go to money bags, and money bags goes – don’t tell the other one, let’s do it. It’s not always mum that’s the bad one, excuse me. So your new nick name is money bags Scomo. Or Santa.
PRIME MINISTER: That was my old one when I was the Treasurer.
PRESENTER: Santa Scomo.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s Josh’s job now, to keep them in line.
PRESENTER: You could be saving money, you’ve got the bus. Are you staying in the bus? I’m a big fan of travelling around Australia, caravan and camping. You put that on Currumbin creek for the night or are you not staying on the bus?
PRIME MINISTER: We are heading up to Brisbane tonight. There are no beds in the bus, but there’s plenty of seats. I’ve got some colleagues with me at the moment, I’ve got Karen Andrews in the bus here with me, I’ve got Steve Ciobo because we are rolling around their electorates at the moment, we are just heading up to Bert Van Manen’s electorate up in Ford to make another announcement about backpackers who we are going to be…
PRESENTER: Dora the explorer! Backpacking, backpacking! You’re on fire on that bus.
BRIDGE: You are. You know what you’re doing, you’re getting off the bus, you’re making an announcement, you’re mic dropping, getting back on, going to another town.
PRESENTER: Esky is full, in the back there singing songs like on the way home from a footy trip. It would be fantastic on the bus.
PRIME MINISTER: Any suggestions for the play list would be gladly welcomed.
PRESENTER: We’ll put one together for you for sure. Finally, who would think an ex-playboy playmate, big star of Baywatch, that Pammy Anderson, I won’t say is in bed with Julian Assange because no one can be at the moment, but considering that she is a bit of a political advocate, this is what she had to say to you Scott Morrison last night on 60 minutes.
60 minutes reporter: Do you know who the Prime Minister is at the moment?
Pamela Anderson: At the moment I don’t because she’s new, he’s new, she new?
60 minutes reporter: He’s new.
Pamela Anderson: He’s news. Who is it?
60 minutes reporter: Scott Morrison.
Pamela Anderson: Scott Morrison. Ok well Scott – Defend your friend and get Julian his passport back and take him back to Australia and be proud of him and throw him a parade when he gets home.
PRIME MINISTER: If anyone can tell you what’s what. It’s Pamela Anderson, Scott.
PRESENTER: Maybe she only knows me by my nickname. Who knows?
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve had plenty of offers from people around the country to act as my special envoy to do the negations. Putting that to one side, the Government is not changing policy on Julian Assange, that’s for sure. But she raised some other issues around live sheep trade, and we are doing a lot on that at the moment. We just had a big review handed down, inspector general and animal welfare group is going to be set up in the Department of Agriculture. They’re serious issues. People are entitled to raise this stuff, regardless of whether they are a celebrity. I’m up here in Queensland this week, listening to people and hearing them. When you listen and you hear you get on with it and you do it, just like we are with the Gold Coast light rail.
PRESENTER: Beautiful. We look forward to it. As we mentioned, it is great to have you here in Queensland. We were ignored for a long time by a lot of Prime Ministers. We had a Prime Minister’s Cup here and we had to change the name because no Prime Minister would come to it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’m here for cup week in Melbourne, and I’m going to be in Queensland all week. This is where I want to be, we are backing Queenslanders and we have a great team of Queenslanders here from Scotty Buchholz out there in the west, here on the Gold Coast Stuey and Steve Ciobo and Karen do a great job here on the Coast as does Bert Van Manen and that’s why we’re backing it in.
PRESENTER: Just very quickly, before you go, who’s your tip for the cup then?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m having a good look at Youngstar. I think he’s an Australian horse, I can’t say I know a hell of a lot about horse racing to be honest. I’m a bit more of an aficionado on my Sharks. But Craig Williams is riding him, looking for his first win, I think it’s his first ride.
PRESENTER: Number 22.
PRIME MINISTER: Backing the underdog I suppose, the Aussie underdog.
