GOREY: Prime Minister, we've of course been speaking about the devastating floods in Queensland this morning and a lot of that water is of course on the way to Northern New South Wales and your government has got another funding package to announce we understand?
PM: That's right and I know we're having a lot of fun here today, but people's thoughts I think will also be on those who are battling flood waters. We know Queensland's doing it tough, but so are other parts of the country and here in New South Wales. We've got communities that are recovering from floods, so with the New South Wales Government, the Federal Government has today announced grants of up to $15,000 to help out small businesses and our primary producers recover.
WILLIAMS: All right Julia, who is eligible for those Category C grants?
PM: Well, they will cover more than 50 flood affected areas in New South Wales, they are for small businesses and primary producers that need to do things like get out and about doing their cleanup work. We know a lot of primary producers have lost fencing, they've got a lot of work to do and so do small businesses, we want them up and running again. So this is a bit of a helping hand along the way.
WILLIAMS: Thank you very much for that, that's a great announcement.
Now that the politicking has been done, you know that there's a Prime Ministerial tradition that you're expected to uphold today, Prime Minister, and that is to bowl a ball. We've seen John Howard do it famously, are you going to reply in kind?
PM: Look, I'm not going to be bowling a ball. I always think that a smart leader draws on expertise, so given I'm here, where so much expertise in bowling lies, I think I'll let the experts do that for me.
WILLIAMS: You couldn't do any worse.
PM: Well, my clear recollection is that Prime Ministers past and I'm not going to use any names, but Prime Ministers past haven't necessarily had the most happy experience trying to bowl a ball. So I'm not going to go down that path.
GOREY: We all know who you're talking about. You don't need to name any names, we know who you mean. Now, just back on the floods, now the important thing is of course for victims to be able get funds quickly. There's a taskforce I understand that is going to be able to make that happen?
PM: Yes, we are making sure that people can get funds quickly, so there are hotlines for people to ring and Centrelink and Medicare staff are standing by and they can help people through, working out eligibility issues. So please, for people in flood affected areas, make sure that they follow up these funding grants and packages, we want that money out on the ground making a difference.
WILLIAMS: Alright, well certainly that is a fine thing that you're doing today and I guess everyone on New South Wales and in Queensland look forward to more government support for the hardships they're going through. Are we predicting a turnaround in Australia's fortunes on the pitch today?
PM: Well, I'm hoping, hoping to see a turnaround. We're hoping for a few quick wickets I think, it's that what we've all come to see?
WILLIAMS: Yes, that's so true.
GOREY: Enjoy the day Prime Minister.
PM: Thank you very much