MATT:
Welcome the Prime Minister, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull MP who joins us right now – Malcolm Turnbull, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning. It’s great to be with you. What a welcome.
LU:
Haven’t we turned on a beautiful day for you here on the Border, Prime Minister? It is magnificent.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I’m not there yet but I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure it will be a beautiful day. It is always a beautiful day on the Border.
LU:
Look, very true and we’ve had some pretty average weather but it will be very nice for you to get around but I suppose what we need to know is why are you here on the Border today?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m coming down to talk about energy prices and talk about inland rail. I’ll be visiting an engineering business in Albury and talking about the way in which we are working hard to bring down the cost of gas.
In fact, we’ve already brought down the cost of gas on the east coast by some very strong measures.
MATT:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s a big issue. I mean Albury, Albury-Wodonga, it’s got a great manufacturing and engineering tradition and energy is a vital input there. And gas prices have been too high. They’ve gone up because of a failure in policy. I mean, a lot of your listeners will be puzzled - you know, how on earth can we have expensive gas in Australia given we produce so much?
MATT:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what happened was some years ago, and I regret to say it was under the last Labor government, both federally and in Queensland, they agreed, they set up these big export facilities that were designed to be fed by coal seam gas. They didn’t produce enough gas and what they also failed to do was to ring-fence enough gas for the domestic market.
So what happened was that a lot of the domestic gas that had been going to businesses and families and households in eastern Australia was being exported. Prices went through the roof.
So I’ve intervened in a very, some people would say, a heavy handed way but there was not alternative. I’ve intervened to protect Australian jobs. So we have seen gas prices, the wholesale prices come down since the beginning of the year but we’re basically limiting exports to ensure there is enough gas for whether you’re an engineering business in Albury or a family in Wodonga, you’ve got to have enough gas.
MATT:
Yep, yep, they need it.
LU:
Well we do need and it’s been a particularly cold winter this winter too so there will be a lot of people very happy to hear that with gas heating. Now one of the other things that we hear is on the discussion table is drug testing for welfare recipients?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yep. That’s right. We’re doing a trial. It’s in three locations. We’ve announced two of them – one in Canterbury, Bankstown in Sydney and one in Logan in Queensland. There will be a third one announced shortly. We will test about, over the next two years, 5,000 people who are identified as high risk by Centrelink and they will, and if they’re found to be using drugs then their welfare payments will be quarantined.
MATT:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
They won’t get any less money but they’ll have 80 per cent of it put on a basics card so they won’t get it in cash.
MATT:
See I think that’s fine.
PRIME MINISTER:
They’ll have to spend it on necessities.
LU:
Sounds like a good idea.
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s a trial. I know there have been some critics. The Labor Party are very opposed to it. I’m not sure why. Surely, we don’t want welfare dollars being used to buy drugs.
MATT:
True.
PRIME MINISTER:
And equally if people who are on welfare are on drugs they are not likely to get a job and the whole objective of programs like Newstart is to get people into employment.
LU:
Yes, yes. Alright, now, before we move on to another big issue, can we have a change of pace?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
MATT:
I would like to throw you, the Prime Minister of our great nation onto the 60-second griller if I could Malcolm Turnbull? Are you willing to take it on?
PRIME MINISTER:
I was going to say are you going to throw another PM on the barbie, as opposed to another shrimp?
MATT:
Yes! Exactly right. So the idea here is quick-fire answers and you can get yourself into a little bit of trouble here but I’m sure you can cope Malcolm Turnbull. Here we go.
PRIME MINISTER:
I’ll do my best.
MATT:
You’re on the griller, let’s go, time starts now. Who in the Liberal Party would you least like to play a board game with?
PRIME MINISTER:
Very good. I would think the Leader of the House, Christopher Pyne - he’s a great tactician.
(Laughter)
MATT:
Oh definitely.
LU:
Yes.
MATT:
Do you prefer thrillers or romantic comedies?
PRIME MINISTER:
Thrillers.
MATT:
Have you checked your birth certificate?
(Laughter)
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I haven’t.
MATT:
Oh no!
LU:
Stop the clock!
PRIME MINISTER:
I have no doubt. You know, actually, it’s on the other side of the mountains but I was in Tumut yesterday and I disclosed that I was citizen by descent of Tumut because my father was born there.
MATT:
Oh okay, alright - that’s fair enough.
LU:
Fair enough, that’s pretty Aussie.
MATT:
Alright, restart the clock with 30 seconds to go. Who is better, John Farnham or Jimmy Barnes?
PRIME MINISTER:
Jimmy Barnes.
MATT:
Oh, yes. I love you.
(Laughter)
Have you ever played a sport?
PRIME MINISTER:
Played at sport?
LU:
Yeah, played a sport.
PRIME MINISTER:
Played a sport! Oh yeah, many sports. Yes. All in a very mediocre way.
MATT:
Oh terrific. Have you ever been ten pin bowling?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I have, yep.
MATT:
Would you rather have dinner with Pauline Hanson, Derryn Hinch or Donald Trump?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think, look, out of the three of them, you know what I’d rather do?
MATT:
Yes?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’d rather have dinner with them all. I think it would be very entertaining.
LU:
All together? That would be very entertaining.
MATT:
A round of applause! You have successfully navigated your way through the 60 second griller. Well done Prime Minister.
LU:
Very well done. Now before you go Prime Minister, it would be remiss of us not to mention that today or tonight by midnight is the last opportunity to ensure that we are enrolled to vote on the Australian Electoral Roll for the marriage equality postal vote.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes that’s right. So go to the AEC website - aec.gov.au - and either enroll, make sure you’ve enrolled or check your details because your enrollment details might be out of date.
LU:
Yeah, your address and all that sort of stuff. It takes like five minutes I did it the other day. And just quickly, now you’ve been very clear about your personal belief that we should have marriage equality in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. Yes, I’ll be voting ‘yes’ as will Lucy.
LU:
Yes and you’ve said that on numerous occasions but how do you feel about the fact that you have to put your own beliefs aside to keep your political party happy?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven’t put my own - I’m not sure why you’d ask that question because my belief is that we should, same-sex marriage should be legalised. I’ll be voting ‘yes’ in the postal vote and when the postal vote is carried - well I believe it will be - but if it is carried then we will facilitate a Private Members Bill to come into the Parliament to legalise same sex marriage and it will sail through the Parliament.
LU:
And timeframe for that kind of thing if it all goes according to plan?
PRIME MINISTER:
We should be able to get it done by the end of the year.
LU:
Excellent.
PRIME MINISTER:
Assuming the postal vote is held on the timetable, you know there’s been a High Court action - the Labor Party and others have brought an action to frustrate, to stop Australians having their say.
MATT:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
They don’t want you to have your say on this issue.
We do.
But assuming we’re successful in the High Court – and we’re confident we will be – then we’ll know the results before the end of the year, we’ll know them in November. That would give us enough time to legislate before the end of the year, which would be the goal.
LU:
Fantastic.
MATT:
Right, there we go.
Prime Minister, thank you so much for talking to us, you’re heading to our part of the world a little bit later on today.
PRIME MINISTER:
I’ll be there this morning.
MATT:
I’m sure we’ll make you feel very welcome. Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull thank you so much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much, great to talk to you.
[ENDS]