DAVE NOONAN:
We are right outside the Granada, on our 16th year of ‘Give Me 5 For Kids’ on our wheelie bin walk on the western shore. It’s a challenge between the eastern shore and the western shore and we do have two very special guests; the Premier of the State, Will Hodgman - good morning.
THE HON. WILL HODGMAN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
Good morning.
DAVE NOONAN:
And the Prime Minister of the country, Malcolm Turnbull, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Great to be here and I just want to say that tough-as-teeth Will Hodgman is here without an overcoat.
[Laughter]
So he’s showing that chilly Tasmanian blood that can withstand the cold weather.
DAVE NOONAN:
Now Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister, you did just ask the question as we were doing the weather, what’s the difference between small hail and big hail? Small hail does not end up with an insurance claim.
AL PLATH:
That’s exactly right.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok.
[Laughter]
AL PLATH:
Well, I’ve actually played footy down here - a grand final - in small hail, Prime Minister, so we do it tough down here.
PRIME MINISTER:
I know you do. I’m full of admiration and look, well done, ‘Give Me 5 For Kids’, fantastic. So $454,000 last year and are you going to go through to the $500,000 mark this year?
DAVE NOONAN:
Look…
AL PLATH:
Don’t…
PRIME MINISTER:
You’ll do it.
DAVE NOONAN:
With your contribution, I think we can.
PRIME MINISTER:
Right. I’ll help, I’m here to help.
[Laughter]
DAVE NOONAN:
Now, I’d like to ask you – there are so many things I’d like to ask you - what did you really make of the peace summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump? You’ve met Donald Trump obviously.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah sure.
DAVE NOONAN:
He famously hung up on you, or reportedly hung up on you.
PRIME MINISTER:
That’s not quite true, no. Not true at all actually.
DAVE NOONAN:
Well, what do you make of this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, he gave it a red hot go. They’ve had many attempts to get North Korea to denuclearize over the years, over decades and no real progress has been mad. So, Donald Trump has sought to engage Kim Jong-un in a very personal way, in a very colourful way.
He is a big, larger-than-life personality. He is a property developer, he is a showman, he is a reality TV star. he’s gone about it in his own unique way.
DAVE NOONAN:
Is he a narcissist?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no listen, I think he is exactly “what you see is what you get”, with Donald Trump and he’s given it a red hot go and you’ve got to give him credit for that.
Now will it work? Well, we don’t know and Trump has said it may not work.
AL PLATH:
Well it’s been 26 years hasn’t it, since a former US President has been in front of a North Korean leader. Now, can I just ask you, do you think that without Dennis Rodman, this would not have happened?
PRIME MINISTER:
[Laughs]
No, I think without Donald Trump it wouldn’t have happened. It was a very ‘Donald Trump’ approach. He’s done something completely different. I imagine all of the foreign policy experts would be saying: “Good heavens, this is unconventional, it’s unorthodox”. But the conventional and orthodox has not worked. Maybe this won’t work too, but we all – look, he’s a tough guy and he will, if Kim Jong-un does not deliver on the commitment to denuclearise, then he will face a really, really formidable opponent in Donald Trump.
So what Trump is doing, he’s showing in that video which was again, a very unconventional thing to do, what he was showing North Korea is, well there’s one road - which is condos on the beach and prosperity - and there is the other road, which is war and destruction.
AL PLATH:
Yes.
DAVE NOONAN:
Now, going for world peace to something a bit more banal, by-elections in Tasmania.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, Braddon, absolutely.
DAVE NOONAN:
Is that why you’re down?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’re down here to make a big - the answer is yes, I’ll be in Braddon, but we’re also, Will and I, well, Will is making an announcement. Because, drum roll –
AL PLATH:
[Drum roll]
PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
Well, Budget day and amongst many other wonderful things that it’ll deliver, is our first commitment to get the Bridgewater Bridge, a new bridge, underway. Get it constructed, built we expect by 2024. A Commonwealth contribution in their Budget, one from us and I think the people of southern Tasmania in particular, will be thrilled to see some progress.
AL PLATH:
So, 2024?
PRIME MINISTER:
There was $461 million in the Federal Budget and that’s about 80 per cent of the cost. Will’s putting up 20 per cent of the cost in the Budget today, so the money is there to get on and build it.
Long talked about, but hasn’t been built yet. So, we’re going to do it.
AL PLATH:
And when are you going to kick off construction? This year?
PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
No, it’ll be a couple years in planning and getting approvals. There’ll be environmental issues and a lot of work done to make sure that when construction starts in about three years, it should be delivered by 2024.
DAVE NOONAN:
And would you like to make an announcement about the light rail? It’s just over there. In fact we’re right next to it. We’re not far away. Would you like to make an announcement about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don’t have an announcement to make about the light rail.
AL PLATH:
[Laughter]
Make something up!
PRIME MINISTER:
Other than that I think it’s fantastic.
DAVE NOONAN:
We know you’re a big proponent of it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’m a big proponent, a big supporter of mass transit. You know, light rail, buses, trains.
DAVE NOONAN:
Ferries.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ferries, yep in Sydney. In cities, whether it’s Sydney or Hobart, you’ve got to be able to move people around at an increasingly, well, you run out of roads, right? So you’ve got to get more people onto public transport. So, you have to provide the public transport.
DAVE NOONAN:
Well thank you very much for that. Will, the Budget’s today, what else can we expect in the Budget?
PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
It’ll be a massive infrastructure Budget, it will literally be about building our state’s future. Building more roads, schools, hospitals.
DAVE NOONAN:
In the South of the state or the north of the state?
PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
You’ll be very happy Dave, a Liberal Government Budget will have strong commitments right across the state.
AL PLATH:
Oh beautifully said Premier.
DAVE NOONAN:
Thank you very much.
AL PLATH:
Now, I’d like to give you both a ‘Give Me 5 for Kids’ hat. Both of your hair is looking amazing, may I praise you, this early in the morning. Looking fabulous.
DAVE NOONAN:
She never says that about me.
AL PLATH:
No I don’t, but then look what I’ve got to look at. What was that Will?
PREMIER OF TASMANIA:
We haven’t been walking from Austin’s Ferry, unlike you two, which is fantastic. Well done.
AL PLATH:
That’s why I wear - oh, that’s magnificent.
DAVE NOONAN:
You know what, you look like an American president.
[Laughter]
AL PLATH:
Yes, that’s absolutely wonderful. We are so privileged to have not only our Premier…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you can’t say “make Tasmania great again”, because it’s always been great. At least since Will’s been the Premier.
AL PLATH:
Yes, that was a good test. He’s passed the test. Here we go, we’re having a selfie live. I had to stop and smile.
[Laughter]
So wonderful to have our Premier Will Hodgman joining us on the walk today and equally fantastic to have our Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. Thank you so much for joining us. That yellow hat really suits you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
DAVE NOONAN:
Brings out the yellow in your eyes.
[Laughter]
PRIME MINISTER:
Should be a red hat.
AL PLATH:
Come and find us on the western shore, on the wheelie bin walk.
[ENDS]