Interview with Tom Elliot, 3AW (Copy)
15 August 2020
CHRIS SMITH: Good morning to you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Chris.
SMITH: Commemorations like these don't come around every day. This one holds so much significance for today's Australian, doesn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah it does. And it reminds us of a time and a generation that was like none other. We're certainly confronting our own challenges today with what's happening but that was a completely different experience and the fortitude and the strength and the resilience of Australians whether they were at the frontline or whether they were working in munitions factories or they were looking after who was left behind. You know, it was just an incredible generation and I'm always humbled by them.
SMITH: It's interesting when you trace back the stories, what their generation went through, both on the battlefield and I'm glad you mentioned back home, you realise that this was a period of time where Australians were so willing to sacrifice and they had tremendous resilience. And we can learn so much from that generation, can't we?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, totally. And that was- and I have no doubt that they were frustrated, that they were angry, that they got down hearted, and I often think at these times, and I was this morning, I was reflecting on my own grandparents this morning, as I was having a cup of coffee. And I remember the stories my grandmother told me about growing up in the Depression. And then when she was at home with my grandfather off at war and she had to look after his father as well, who was elderly. And, you know, they just went through unimaginable anxiety and uncertainty. And there are a lot of lessons there for us and a lot of strength we can draw from.
SMITH: I spoke to my teenage son last night about all of this and what we were doing on the programme today. And I said to him, ‘you know what it tells me mate’, and it was a personal conversation. But I said to him, ‘it makes me think that a lot of younger people today need to harden up a bit and realise the history of those generations’.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, history is important and it informs us and it inspires us. And I suppose my message would be slightly different and a bit more generous, but it would be to be inspired. To take the positive of those stories. And whether it's Teddy Sheean who we thankfully were able to see honoured by the Queen acceding to the recommendation we made, these people are just incredible. Their stories, I remember when I walked Kokoda, it was over a decade ago now and and that has that has stayed with me. And the treks that I did, the Sandakan death march, and around the Black Cat track, up around Salamaua and Lae. And to hear those stories, they never left me. And we took young people with us. I did that with Jason Clare a Labor member. We did it as a bipartisan many years ago and we just loved how it inspired young people. There's a lot to be inspired by.
SMITH: Very, very true. Very, very true. Just a couple of things off the commemoration today. I've just received a release coming out of your office, Marise Payne's office, Linda Reynolds’ office. Australia is delivering urgently needed humanitarian supplies to Beirut. The reality is there are 300,000 people there who are left homeless.
PRIME MINISTER: It is devastating. I think the images of that explosion, which was about 20 per cent of the scale of Little Boy, the big bomb in Japan. That's something to reflect on. It is just horrific. We've been doing a lot of work with the Lebanese community in Australia, Australians with Lebanese heritage, and they're amazing people. I know many of them incredibly well. They're raising money. They're looking to help how they could help in Lebanon. But there are people who'll be making their way back from Lebanon and we’re facilitating that, we’ve put $5 million dollars down and into internationally coordinated aid efforts. I joined a call the other night, with President Macron, and about 30 others, countries, about how I mean, we're a long way away and we're not going to solve the problems of the Middle East all the way here from Australia. But there are things we can do directly to help people. And we are. And the communities are opening up their hearts, as I know the Lebanese community does in Australia, they're amazing people.
SMITH: On another issue, the report into the handling of the Ruby Princess was handed down late yesterday. The ship has been linked to 900 cases of coronavirus and 28 deaths. The commissioner cleared Australian Border Force of any wrongdoing, but found staff from New South Wales Health made some serious mistakes. There are some apologies, I would have thought, need to be up front and centre, including one from Senator Kristina Keneally?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look it is as we said it was Chris, because, I mean, we were being straight with people about what happened. The inquiry has borne that out. The Labor party, wanted to snipe and sledge and throw stones, and that's been their approach. It's disappointing. I don't dwell on it terribly much, I’ve got too much else to focus on as has Peter Dutton and David Littleproud and Michael McCormack and Josh Frydenberg and Greg Hunt. You know, we're just getting on with the job and look, for the issues in New South Wales, at the same time, it was a very difficult time and officials will make mistakes in pandemics that none of us have had to manage before. And so I think there's been some humble learnings out of New South Wales. And I've seen New South Wales just go from strength to strength in managing the pandemic. And you are seeing that right now. In times like this, there will be errors made. But what you've got to ensure is that you learn from every single one of them and you emerge stronger each time. And so I'd say to people in New South Wales, that's what I've seen Gladys Berejiklian doing. She just doubles down, goes back to work and just makes sure it doesn't happen again. And that's that's her attitude. And I’ve been, I really thank her for taking that leadership role.
SMITH: There are some lessons too to be learned at your level over aged care. I was really impressed with the health secretary, Professor Brendan Murphy, yesterday putting some context into this debate about the handling of aged care during this pandemic.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, it's a very complex issue. And I think at the end of the day, the reason we are having this challenge is because there's widespread community transmission in Victoria. I mean, that's why, we're not having those problems in New South Wales or in Queensland or elsewhere, because there's not widespread community transmission. I mean, it's impacting hospitals. It's impacting healthcare services all over Victoria. And aged care is no exception to that. There's not some special force field, but the aged care response centre that we've set up down there. There's a bloke doing a terrific job, a guy called Joe Buffone out of Emergency Management Australia. He's leading that task force team down there. And you know they are just getting a mountain of work done to just protect people, protect our elderly residents, to ensure work forces are properly trained. He's just working those issues with all of us every day. I just got off a call from him about fifteen minutes ago. We go through these issues every single day, with Brendan and with Paul Kelly. And Greg Hunt and the whole team, Richard Colbeck, they are very complex issues. And, you know, we've just got to work hard to stay on top of them. As I said yesterday, some days, the virus gets the better of us. But other days, they're the better ones and they're the ones we're trying to increase the frequency of.
SMITH: I often think to myself, what an era to be the Prime Minister of the nation. Good luck with all of those challenges. We'll be listening to your commemorative address and putting it live to air, Prime Minister thank you very much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot mate and lest we forget.
SMITH: Thanks.
