PETER HELLIAR:
Welcome back, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah good to be here. Welcome to Sydney.
PETER HELLIAR:
It's great to be in Sydney as always. Tony on the turps there, we thought we might give you a little present. This is an alcohol breath-tester.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah okay.
[Laughter]
PETER HELLIAR:
Need this before the next Cabinet meeting, perhaps?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well yeah there you go, how many tests can it do?
[Laughter]
PETER HELLIAR:
You might have to buy your own batteries.
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm sure I'll manage that. Good, well thank you very much.
PETER HELLIAR:
Our pleasure.
PRIME MINISTER:
I'll keep that in mind. Everyone will have seen you giving that to me and that will ensure a higher level of sobriety.
PETER HELLIAR:
It’s on public record now.
PRIME MINISTER:
There you go, good on you.
DR CHRIS BROWN:
Given the events we just discovered about with Tony Abbott, is it time to introduce parliamentary lockout laws? Where you can’t get a drink after ten o’clock.
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I tell you, with a majority of one, we don't want to lock anybody out!
[Laughter]
We want to lock them in to be there for the vote.
Rachel Corbett:
Getting serious for a minute. You’ve had plenty of-
PRIME MINISTER:
That's pretty serious, actually!
Rachel Corbett:
I know, I know, very serious, very serious!
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
Keeping all of our people in to vote to ensure that we win the divisions is very serious.
Rachel Corbett:
Nice way to bring it back around.
You've had plenty of flak about your plan to drug-test welfare recipients. Some medical experts say that this won't work. What makes you thinking that it will?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, they don't know whether it will work or not. I think it’s a very - it is a trial.
Everyone says governments should do new things, should experiment, should trial things – well we’re doing that. There’s going to be 5,000 people that will be tested. We believe it will be successful, but we'll find out.
And look, let's face it - if you love somebody and they're on drugs, what do you want to do? You want to get them off drugs. If you love somebody and they are unemployed, what do you want them to do? You want them to get a job.
And frankly, do you really want your taxes being spent on drugs? I don't. I don't want welfare money being spent on drugs. It is not fair to the taxpayer and it is absolutely not fair, and not going to work - not helpful - for the person on welfare. So I think this is a good exercise, it's worthwhile. Australians support it, and we'll see how it goes. It is a trial.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Prime Minister, many Australians right now seem very disillusioned with Australian politics and seem very concerned-
PRIME MINISTER:
Have they ever been otherwise?
[Laughter]
NATARSHA BELLING:
I think particularly-
PRIME MINISTER:
Natarsha, let me tell you - let me tell you, I started off as a young journalist in the state parliamentary press gallery in the mid-70s, right, so more than 40 years ago. I think Australians have always been - I don't think Australians have ever been wandering around ecstatically saying, "I cannot believe how fabulous our politicians are, why do we have such amazing politicians? They are practically perfect!". They don't say that. We’ve always - we have to work really hard as politicians to win the support of the public and they are hard markers. And fair enough. That's what democracy is about.
NATARSHA BELLING:
But what about the perceived lack of leadership on both sides? As Prime Minister, what do you want to do to change that and what do you want your legacy to be as Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what I want to do is to continue to deliver the opportunities that Australians need to get ahead and realise their dreams and their aspirations, and, of course, at the same time, providing the security that we need to keep us safe, because that's the foundation of everything that we do.
And look what we're doing - I mean, we are delivering big reforms, the biggest reforms to school funding in the history of the Commonwealth. Everyone in the press gallery said, "You'll never get it through the Senate." You know what, we did.
We've brought the rule of law back into the construction sector. These are the same militant, bullying, thuggish unions that control Bill Shorten and for whom he apologises every day. We've got those laws through the Senate. A lot of people in the media said we wouldn't get it through – we’ve got that through.
We're reducing tax for small and medium-sized family business, most of them family businesses, Australian businesses, and why are we doing that? Because if they invest more they will employ more.
PETER HELLIAR:
It makes you want to say, "Aren't politicians great"!
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it should! It should, and you know everyone, you’re sort of all tearing your hair out during the election campaign when I kept on talking about jobs and growth. Do you know what, in the last year, 240,000 new jobs. That’s real. That’s delivering.
TIM BLACKWELL:
Well we got you here on Sunday, you’re not even wearing a tie.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah I know.
TIM BLACKWELL:
So let’s talk about the big issue, the big fight.
PRIME MINISTER:
It's great, it's liberating!
[Laughter]
TIM BLACKWELL:
It is, look at this.
Rachel Corbett:
I think we need to breathalyse him!
PRIME MINISTER:
What are we looking at you’re-
TIM BLACKWELL:
Not me! I want your opinion on the fight today, Prime Minister, were you happy with the result, with Mayweather?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, I didn't watch the fight, I’m not a fighting - I'm not a you know a boxing fan.
PETER HELLIAR:
You are a lover!
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yeah that’s right I'm a lover not a boxer, yes, that's right!
PETER HELLIAR:
Tony Abbott's the boxer and you’re the lover.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well yeah he did - he was a boxer at university, that's true. I had a good football week. My Swans and Roosters both won in AFL and the NRL, but obviously the Wallabies came really close, but then got pipped at the post.
NATASHA BELLING:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
But it was a great effort. It was a great comeback. Anyway, getting back to the fight...
TIM BLACKWELL:
The big fight.
PRIME MINISTER:
..I have had a look at some of the clips. It would have been great if Conor McGregor had won, naturally, but he obviously was - did much better than anyone expected, I don't know, maybe - you are interviewing Jeff Horn later, maybe Jeff Horn can - they're three kilos heavy, they are super welterweights and Jeff I think boxes at welterweight. But there’s not a lot of difference, I’m sure-
PETER HELLIAR:
Jeez, you have been well briefed! You didn't even watch the fight and you know the kilogram differences!
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
It's amazing, those weight differences.
PETER HELLIAR:
I don't think they're weight differences!
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
You and I would be in the heavyweight category. The only thing we've got going - we can qualify for the weight.
PETER HELLIAR:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
It's just the boxing that we'd fail at I think.
PETER HELLIAR:
I don't want to go toe-to-toe with them on boxing. But we have things in common, one we’re both for same-sex marriage we’re both-
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah we are. Yes, vote yes!
PETER HELLIAR:
There you go, absolutely.
PRIME MINISTER:
But above all, vote. Above all vote. We want a high participation in the vote. And I think we'll get that.
PETER HELLIAR:
We're both republicans and we both struggle with drills. This is you on Friday.
[VIDEO PACKAGE PLAYS]
PETER HELLIAR:
All they asked you to do was drill a nail into a plank of wood.
PRIME MINISTER:
But I got it in! It was a soft tapping screw which I'd never done.
PETER HELLIAR:
Sweet sounds.
PRIME MINISTER:
... It goes in!
PETER HELLIAR:
Does it really?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah it does!
RACHEL CORBETT:
Not yet!
PRIME MINISTER:
Not yet.
[Laughter]
PETER HELLIAR:
You are pushing hard! Get in!
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, look I’m not...
[Applause]
..I tell you, I was surprised by that, because they didn't have a little guide hole.
PETER HELLIAR:
So were we.
PRIME MINISTER:
Normally you drill a little hole to provide the guide for even a self-tapping screw like that.
RACHEL CORBETT:
They can’t make it easy for you.
DR CHRIS BROWN:
Did we just see why the renovations in The Lodge blew so much over budget?
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
Not during my time! But I’ll tell you what for the amount that was spent on the renovations on The Lodge, which was about 12 million bucks - staggering.
PETER HELLIAR:
You could’ve brought this network.
PRIME MINISTER:
You could have built several two new houses of that size, anyway. But anyway it won't happen again. I've made sure we've got some adult oversight on any further works that are done on those residences.
DR CHRIS BROWN:
Prime Minister, it is Sunday, so thank you very much for joining us in here on The Sunday Project.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good on you, thank you.
[ENDS]