EDDIE MCGUIRE:
The Prime Minister of Australia who joins us this morning on the line. Good morning Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, how are you?
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
Have you heard Lawrence Mooney taking you off Prime Minister at any stage?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’ve heard of – I heard, I think you played a grab of it once. But very happy to be entertained if he wants to give it another go.
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
He’s good at it too, he’s got you off pretty well.
Hey Prime Minister, you’ve been in town, the Cabinet has been meeting in Melbourne. What has been the big things you’re pushing? My first question was going to be about Victorian infrastructure and I understand that that has been the top of the list.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes well we finally reached agreement with the Victorian Government to invest $3 billion all up in major infrastructure in Melbourne and right across Victoria in fact. The largest part of it is into the Monash Freeway which as you know is very congested, so we’ve got – we’ll have the largest investment going into the Monash and then we’ve also got the Western Ring Road. So that all up onto the Monash, that’s $1 billion between us and the state Government, half a billion dollars each in to the Western Ring Road that’s $700 million between us and then $440 million into the Murray Basin Freight Rail, which is to get goods from Victorian farmers to market in the west of the state. Enormous investment in to a whole series of rural and regional roads and congestion in the city as well. So it’s a big package, there’s been $1.5 billion tied up in a Victorian Government bank account, because as you know we’d given it to the Vics to spend on the East-West link but they, the Labor Government had cancelled that and spent $1 billion of your taxes for the privilege. And finally, we’ve been able to get agreement to put that money to work with the same amount from them, so that’s good.
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
Prime Minister one of the big issues in the state of Victoria, particularly in Melbourne is the unemployment rate, particularly in areas like Dandenong and Broadmeadows and down in Geelong as well because of the shutting down of car manufacturing and manufacturing in general. We’re now starting to see it manifest itself on the streets with kids coming through and gangs and the likes and without stretching the point too much, we have to really get in to the youth unemployment particularly in these areas around the Ring Roads which you’re going to build which is fantastic, and which is part of it. Have you got any thoughts on what we need to do, how do we integrate these young kids particularly the African kids coming to our country? How do we make this – if you’ve got the answer you’ll solve the problems of the world I know…
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes sure well – there is no one single simple answer. The overall - the most important thing to do is to continue to provide strong economic growth because if the economy is growing, if businesses are prospering then people are hiring. So that’s the first thing. Secondly, you need to have programmes that are specifically targeted at young people and youth unemployment and you would have seen in the budget we announced our PaTH programme, which is designed to give internships to young people and they’ll be incentivised, employers will be incentivised to get them into work so that they get an experience of getting up in the morning, going to work, turning up. And that coupled with training makes them more employable. One of the problems with a lot of these young kids that you’re talking about is that they get out of the habit of going to work, in fact they don’t go to work and so they become – they fall into that dreadful cycle of welfare dependency which of course is a real trap.
LUKE DARCY:
Prime Minister we’re over here in New York. We’ve been here for the U.S election and I think one of the take outs for a lot of people has been politicians not able to speak freely of their own will and their own opinion about marriage equality or a number of issues. Is there anything you take out of the US election and that result, in terms of the way you’re going to conduct yourself now, going forward?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it’s very important to be absolutely true to yourself. There is enormous scepticism about professional politicians, you know one of the advantages that – one of the pluses that Trump brought to the campaign was to say, was to be able to say that he wasn’t a career politician, he was a business person, businessman. He’d succeeded in his own business and he said look what I’ve done in my own life, I can do this for America. Now, time will tell whether he can deliver on that but I think there is a cynicism about people that have spent their entire life in politics and you know, one of the great strengths I’d say of our side of politics – there are exceptions of course – on our side of politics overall here in Australia, we have a wide range of life’s experiences in our party room.
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
Does that embolden you Prime Minister because one of the reason your popularity was so high was because you’re Malcolm Turnbull, you’re the self-made man, you’ve got so many great thoughts on where socially Australia should go and financially and all areas of public life. Can you now use that and try and, you know, give us more Malcolm and less maybe of some of the factions in your government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’m always true to myself. You know clearly, I think once you are governing, once you are the Prime Minister or the President, obviously you have to manage the Parliament, you’ve got to manage the affairs of the nation and that is why people will say – Mario Cuomo, a great American politician said we campaign in poetry but we govern in prose. So invariably, we’re presented with big challenges but the important thing to do is to explain them clearly and be honest and straight forward with people and that’s what I always seek to do.
MICK MOLLOY:
Prime Minister, Mick Molloy here. I’d just like to thank you and your government for hosting me on election night at the Australian Embassy in Washington. Joe Hockey was an exceptional host –
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
We want you to sign the expense forms Prime Minister.
MICK MOLLOY:
We had a wonderful evening –
PRIME MINISTER:
No breakages I hope?
MICK MOLLOY:
Well you’ll get a bill. But can I just say the staff there are wonderful and Joe Hockey was an excellent host, I did seek asylum Julian Assange style, and I’m sad that didn’t go through because I was looking forward to living there for the next six years at least.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that’s good. No Joe is doing a great job.
MICK MOLLOY:
He is.
PRIME MINISTER:
And you know, one of the things obviously we don’t take sides in American elections – that’s a matter for the American people. But one of the great things Joe has done, and indeed our government has done, is made sure that we stayed in touch with both sides in the election campaign, so that we – you know, whatever the result, whatever choice the American people made, we were able to get off to a good start with the new administration and as you know, I’ve already had a good chat with the President-elect and I’m sure the very strong relationship between Australia and America will continue. And indeed strengthen as it always has done.
MICK MOLLOY:
Absolutely.
Great news –
MICK MOLLOY:
Some kind of political immunity, some kind of diplomatic immunity for me would be great. Speak to Joe, green light it. A number I can call would be great.
LUKE DARCY:
Fantastic that all those funds have been freed up for Victorian infrastructure projects, so well done Prime Minister, and as always we appreciate you talking to our big audience this morning. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks very much.
ENDS