DAVID KOCH:
The Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony was spectacular last night.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
And Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was there and he joins us now. Prime Minister, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Wasn’t Migaloo great?
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Migaloo was my favourite bit too. What did you think of the overall ceremony?
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought it was brilliant, I thought Migaloo was great. I thought Delta Goodrem and Katie Noonan were great. I also thought the big beach ‘tableau’ I guess, at the beginning you know, it had everybody out on the beach, the picnic umbrellas and so forth, it was fantastic. It was brilliant and the laser show was brilliant, at the end.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
I thought it was well done too.
DAVID KOCH:
What do you say to all the grumpy guts out there? There were a lot on social media, going: "Too much of a focus on our Aboriginal culture,” and stuff like that. Do you tell them just to get a life?
PRIME MINISTER:
Don't read it.
DAVID KOCH:
“Get a life,” don’t you agree?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, just don’t read it. If you want to stay sane, don’t read all the negative stuff.
Social media is dominated by negativity -
DAVID KOCH:
Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER:
Particularly Twitter. So, stay happy, don't read it.
DAVID KOCH:
But it’s part of the media -
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Do you not read it? Do you honestly not read social media?
PRIME MINISTER:
Sure, well I keep an eye on it. But do I go scrolling through Twitter and Facebook comments? No. You’ve got to be aware of it, but I think a lot of it is, there’s a lot of anger there, which I think, a lot of it is put on.
Because it’s quite at odds with, you go and look at these folks here.
Having a great time?
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Yes.
DAVID KOCH:
Yeah!
PRIME MINISTER:
See, they’re happy, they love it.
DAVID KOCH:
But even some of the –
PRIME MINISTER:
I was talking to a young girl here a moment ago, Ebony, who is so excited. She is going to the badminton and the Closing Ceremony. She’s rapt about it. She’s down here from Brisbane.
DAVID KOCH:
And that’s what we’ve got to focus on. It's almost un-Australian to acknowledge anything we do well in this country. We do this sort of stuff so well, world-class, don’t we?
PRIME MINISTER:
We do, we do.
DAVID KOCH:
Let’s get behind it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, we should celebrate our successes without being bad winners. But you’ve got to recognise that we’ve got so much going for us; confidence, optimism, positivity. You know, ‘glass half full’, not ‘half empty’. That’s the right approach.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
And look at this PM, we want to move here forever.
[Laughter]
We want to take the Greens idea of everybody going on the dole and moving to the beach. We thought you’d love that one.
PRIME MINISTER:
Someone will have to pay for it though.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Yes, exactly.
DAVID KOCH:
And what a special day for you too; Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, became a granddad for the fourth time yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER:
For the fourth time, that’s right, that’s right. Our son Alex and his wife Yvonne had a little boy yesterday.
DAVID KOCH:
Oh, congratulations!
PRIME MINISTER:
So it’s great, yeah, really excited.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
So what sports are you off to, the Comm Games?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’re going to be swimming next week on Tuesday. That’s going to be very exciting. Very excited about the Campbell sisters in particular and Emily Seebohm of course, but you know we’ve got a great swimming squad.
DAVID KOCH:
Yep.
PRIME MINISTER:
They’ll all do well.
DAVID KOCH:
You were in the good seats last night with Charles and Camilla. What do they think of it all? Has he got a sense of humour?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, very much so, he’s really got a great sense of humour. He’s got a very dry, droll, English sense of humour.
DAVID KOCH:
Right. They enjoyed it though?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah absolutely.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
There were a few reports - on social media Prime Minister, so we won’t take too much notice –
PRIME MINISTER:
Right, that authoritative source.
[Laughter]
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
They’re saying that Camilla looked a little bit bored at times. She was scrolling through the programme or maybe New Idea magazine.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, she was good, she was certainly enjoying the spectacle. We shared, I showed her pictures of the new grandchild -
DAVID KOCH:
Aw, that’s good.
PRIME MINISTER:
She and the Prince both thought he looked terrific, so I have passed that back on to my son and his wife in Singapore. They’ve got royal approval.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
They’ll be pleased, exactly.
DAVID KOCH:
And how could you not like a hundred didgeridoo players in an orchestra? Such a great sound!
PRIME MINISTER:
Of course it is, brilliant.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Alright Prime Minister, lovely to chat, thank you for your time. We know you’re a busy man today.
DAVID KOCH:
Yeah, really appreciate you dropping in.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good on you.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Enjoy the Royals, send our love.
PRIME MINISTER:
We will, I’ll send them your love.
DAVID KOCH:
Are you showing them around?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’re going to the athletes village. Lucy and I are going to the athletes village with them to meet the athletes. That’ll be good, then we’ll have some private discussions, it’ll be good, a good day.
DAVID KOCH:
Like a prime ministerial ‘hop on, hop off bus tour’?
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
Exactly, that’s about right. Okay thanks a lot guys.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
He’s going “no, no”.
[Laughter]
DAVID KOCH:
Probably, I love a good ‘hop on, hop off’ bus.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Yes, we know you do Kochie.
PRIME MINISTER:
There’s a ‘hop on, hop off’ tram here.
DAVID KOCH:
A tram, there you go, that’s excellent.
PRIME MINISTER:
Have you been on it?
DAVID KOCH:
Yes, it’s for free!
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, it’s brilliant.
DAVID KOCH:
During the Commonwealth Games, yeah, I got out my Opal Card and they said: “No, go for free!”
[Laughter]
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Alright, thank you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay.