Radio Interview – Nova 93.7 Perth breakfast with Nathan, Nat & Shaun
NATALIE LOCKE, HOST: Hey everybody, guess what. The Prime Minister in the house.
NATHAN MORRIS, HOST: Isn’t it amazing?
SHAUN MCMANUS, HOST: He’s not waiting for anybody.
PRIME MINISTER: Hey, everybody.
MORRIS: Hello, Prime Minister.
LOCKE: Fresh from the coronation, Anthony Albanese.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here.
MCMANUS: Tiredness out of, between one and ten please sir?
PRIME MINISTER: 9.5, I think. Had a bit of sleep last night, but I have no idea what time it is. It’s dark outside, so it must still be night.
MORRIS: I cannot believe you didn’t even get to experience the excitement of the Coronation concert.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there’s this little thing called the Budget happening tomorrow.
LOCKE: Yes, which is tomorrow.
MORRIS: People aren’t interested in that, are they?
LOCKE: Yeah but that’s the Treasurer’s job, isn’t it?
PRIME MINISTER: So we ducked straight out after the Coronation, straight to the airport. We actually got to the airport quick and were then waiting because there was a bit of a queue.
LOCKE: Yeah well Prince Harry had to get out too.
PRIME MINISTER: There were a few planes at Stansted waiting to take off.
LOCKE: Is that right?
PRIME MINISTER: And so we went by Dubai, had to refuel there for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. So I have no idea what time it is, my body clock’s just off the scale.
LOCKE: You don’t need to figure it out till you get back to Canberra.
PRIME MINISTER: 7:30 tomorrow night, I have to be in the chamber for Jim Chalmers’ Budget speech. I know that. If I wasn’t there, people might notice.
MORRIS: It’s amazing, we were just talking about the fact that you are looking, you’re in history, like you’re attending history. We’re watching it. You’re in it. You’re in it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s an extraordinary event, of course. The first time in my lifetime. First time in 70 years. And you absolutely had that sense of history. And the British, no one does pageantry and ceremony like the British.
LOCKE: It was like an Anne Hathaway movie.
MCMANUS: And that was slimmed down they said.
MORRIS: I tell you what, we need more fancy hats. Like we don’t have enough fancy hats in Australia.
LOCKE: That’s where we’ve gone wrong obviously.
NATHA: Everyone had like a big furry one and a cone shaped one and a princess one.
LOCKE: We’re gonna get more details on the Coronation. We’ve got to get a song on.
PRIME MINISTER: We have caps and Akubras.
MORRIS: I know, corks on strings.
LOCKE: Alright, we’re going to find out all the details of the Coronation, coming up next with the Prime Minister.
(Song break)
LOCKE: Nathan, Nat and Shaun and the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in the house on his way home from the Coronation. You’re a republican, right?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, absolutely.
LOCKE: How was that, did you feel a bit conflicted sitting there watching the pageantry and the pomp?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. I want an Australian as our head of state. But there are, of course, 57 countries in the Commonwealth. Only 15 countries are part of the realm, which means that the King is the King of Australia.
MCMANUS: It’s like Game of Thrones.
PRIME MINISTER: And so it’s important as Prime Minister that I respect institutions which are there.
LOCKE: Until we change it.
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly, and that you do the right thing. I wasn’t there to have a protest, which is what some people seem to think I should have done. I mean, it’s ridiculous.
MCMANUS: Albo, that’s really interesting to hear because I didn’t know there was only 15 left that are ruled by the King. Because my thing was that, and I think we should be a republic, we’ve got to that point. But I was thinking, if we do that, then we’re out of the Commonwealth Games. And that’s one thing that we win all the time.
PRIME MINISTER: No, not at all.
LOCKE: Canada.
PRIME MINISTER: No, Canada’s one of the realm countries.
LOCKE: Is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, Canada’s in.
LOCKE: Don’t they have a President?
PRIME MINISTER: No, they have a Governor-General like us. So, the 15 realm countries, you get a better seat if you’re a realm country.
MORRIS: Oh really?
PRIME MINISTER: So there are the realm countries, then the non-realm Commonwealth countries.
MORRIS: And then Harry.
LOCKE: And then Prince Andrew.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s the only time where the United States representatives and France and some of the big G7 countries, they’re further back from Australia.
MCMANUS: Oh, that’s good news.
PRIME MINISTER: Antigua’s first, we’re always second of the realm countries.
LOCKE: Oh, so it’s alphabetical.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s always Antigua, Australia, Bahamas. So, I’ve got to know the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Bahamas very well.
LOCKE: They bit of fun?
PRIME MINISTER: They are. They are actually.
LOCKE: Talk about cricket?
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. Well, particularly Antigua.
MORRIS: We need to know, the one question that everyone was asking about the Coronation, and this actually is from the Queen’s funeral as well is, the toilet situation there? My dad was flipping out watching it, going, what if you have to go to the toilet? Because you’re there for hours and it doesn’t look like it’s a situation where you can get up from your seat and go to a porta-loo. So, what’s the deal?
PRIME MINISTER: The deal is, don’t drink water in the morning, literally.
MORRIS: Really? So, do they say if you need to go to the toilet you cannot?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I think in an emergency you could, but it would be pretty disruptive.
MORRIS: Embarrassing.
PRIME MINISTER: And you’re conscious of the cameras. So, literally, the night before we had.
LOCKE: You start the drying out process?
PRIME MINISTER: We had a gathering of all of the Australian representatives, and of course, we had three Victoria Cross winners, including the wonderful Keith Payne, who’s just an absolute legend. And we had Sam Kerr.
MCMANUS: What a champion.
PRIME MINISTER: Great West Australian, chosen by me to be the flag bearer. And she just looked fantastic and she’s so awesome. And so we had Sam, and we had Nick Cave, and we had Adam Hills, and we had a nurse from the NHS, and we had people from the arts, Yvonne Kenny. And we had an amazing group.
LOCKE: The AstraZeneca developer.
PRIME MINISTER: And we told, we got told, everyone, make sure in the morning, you don’t drink a whole lot of water.
LOCKE: Adam Hills said in an interview that he did a dummy run the day before, of just having a little bit of coffee in the morning to get himself up and about and then not drinking for the rest of the day to see how long he could hold on for, so that he knew that he was prepared.
PRIME MINISTER: Training, you need training for an event like this.
MORRIS: And then a bowl of sawdust for breakfast.
MCMANUS: When you’re at the Coronation, because we all watched a fair bit of it on TV, but it gets to the point, right, where we’re seeing it and like, okay, where’s the sport, not for everyone.
LOCKE: Well, the Dockers were playing Shaun, so what were you going to do?
MCMANUS: But, you know, did you get bored there?
PRIME MINISTER: No, not at all.
MORRIS: Oh, come on.
PRIME MINISTER: Nup, not at all.
LOCKE: How far before it started, did you have to be in, sit you in your spot?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, not too long before, and some were there many hours beforehand.
MORRIS: Not the important realmers, though.
PRIME MINISTER: The realm, exactly, exactly. So, when you’re from the realm, you get in just before just before other royals, and then the actual Royal Family. So, Princess Mary was just sitting just across, the same aisle as we were, and so you get to see all the royals moving in and then the Royal Family coming in, and then it’s on. And there is something about the acoustics in a cathedral, or in this case an abbey, that is just magnificent. And the singing and the music was beautiful.
MORRIS: But was there, there was a bit too much of it. There was twenty-one of those choir songs. Twenty-one, fifteen’s probably enough, ten’s enough.
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on, it went for two hours, the last one went for more than double that.
MCMANUS: Whoah, okay.
MORRIS: And the worst thing is, like Katy Perry was there. It’s like, can you just not stand up and do a bit of I Kissed A Girl?
LOCKE: Alright, we’ve got more with the Prime Minister coming up next.
(Break)
LOCKE: Nathan, Nat and Shaun, we’re just unpacking the Coronation with the Prime Minister, who’s joined us here in the studio. Anthony Albanese, it’s always a pleasure to have you in town.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s good to be here. And I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you, mate, by you not being the flagbearer.
MORRIS: It was very upsetting for me.
LOCKE: But we’ve seen your upper arms Nathan, I don’t think you could’ve.
PRIME MINISTER: It was Sam Kerr or you, you made the final two on the list.
MORRIS: Yeah I know, but like, I understand that Sam Kerr has done some things, but like Shaun, come on.
PRIME MINISTER: She’s pretty handy. We beat England two-nil.
MCMANUS: She is, we’re related.
PRIME MINISTER: You’re related?
MCMANUS: Absolutely. Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER: In what way?
MCMANUS: Her mother is first cousins with my dad, so we grew up kind of together.
LOCKE: So, you’re second cousins?
MCMANUS: Second cousins. But we’re quite.
PRIME MINISTER: Besties?
MCMANUS: Yeah. I haven’t seen Sam, obviously, in a long time, since she’s been dominating.
LOCKE: She doesn’t call when she’s in town, does she?
MCMANUS: It’s really weird that way. But there you go, you wouldn’t have thought that, would you?
PRIME MINISTER: She’s a terrific person. She’s great.
MCMANUS: Absolutely.
MORRIS: Now, let’s talk about a couple of other big events you’ve got coming up. So, after this, you’ve got what coming up on the horizon?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve got the Budget tomorrow night.
LOCKE: Tomorrow, great timing.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ve got the big Budget sell then, talking about what we’re doing for a better future.
LOCKE: Are people going to be happy with this Budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve got $14.6 billion worth of cost of living relief. And so that will be rolling out. We understand people are under pressure, but we’re also, it’s a really responsible Budget. I think we’ve got the balance right, for strengthening the economy. So I hope people receive it well, but we’ll wait and see. We’re doing our best. So we will do that, and then at the end of next week, I go to the G7 in Hiroshima in Japan, which is all of the seven largest economies in the world, and Australia has been invited by Japan, by Prime Minister Kishida. And the following week, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi of India and President Biden will be in Australia for, hosting the Quad Leaders meeting, which is the largest, most significant gathering in Australia since we hosted the G20 a decade ago.
MORRIS: But I hear there’s something bigger than that on the horizon after that.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m hosting the big three, the leaders of United States, India and Japan. And then next month, I’m hosting the other big three.
LOCKE: The bigger three?
PRIME MINISTER: The other big three.
MORRIS: Who’s that?
PRIME MINISTER: You three.
MORRIS: Oh my god.
PRIME MINISTER: Nathan, Nat and Shaun. Come to the Lodge, as promised.
MCMANUS: As promised, you’re delivering.
LOCKE: This is a Prime Ministerial promise that you are delivering on, it’s actually happening.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s done, it’s in the diary. How are you going to, are you going to broadcast from…
MORRIS: The Lodge?
PRIME MINISTER: From Canberra? I’m wondering how you’re working that out?
MORRIS: We’re doing it from the hotel. So, we’re going to broadcast from the hotel that we’re staying at, because you apparently won’t let us stay at the Lodge, which is actually pretty rude, but we’ll get into that later on. So, we’re going to be doing that and then we’re going to be coming to your place for dinner. But there is a thousand questions on the table, Shaun, about dinner.
MCMANUS: Well, I think number one is, what are we going to wear?
LOCKE: What do we wear?
MCMANUS: Nathan’s really bad at wearing suits.
PRIME MINISTER: You’re looking pretty good at the moment.
LOCKE: He’s wearing tracksuit pants.
NATHAN No, but this is my point. I was speaking about you on the weekend, and I said, we’re going to be going to have dinner with Anthony at the Lodge, and then everyone’s like, ‘oh, my God, what are you going to wear?’ And I went, well, it’s his house, so really it’s up to you what we wear, because you could wear trackies and a t-shirt and we could just get some pizza.
PRIME MINISTER: You can be chilled. No, we won’t have pizza. We’ll do a bit better than that.
MORRIS: Oh, are we going to have like, are you going to have a chef?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll do a bit better than that, absolutely. You’re going to get looked after.
LOCKE: It’s a Lodge experience.
MORRIS: I don’t know, I didn’t know what we were getting.
MCMANUS: Why did you think we were getting pizza?
MORRIS: I don’t know, I thought it might be like UberEats.
LOCKE: Do you think we’re Netflix and chilling at the Lodge?
MCMANUS: Careful.
MORRIS: Jodi, you’re sitting over there, I’ll sit here with Anthony.
MCMANUS: We are certainly looking forward to it, that’s for sure. But I just want to go back to the Budget, obviously.
LOCKE: What a killjoy.
MCMANUS: $14 million. Well, everybody wants to know what’s going on here.
PRIME MINISTER: Billion.
MCMANUS: $14 billion, I’m not sure if that’s a lot.
LOCKE: It sounds like a lot.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s substantial.
MCMANUS: I’m not sure, $500 is what we’re going to be looking at in terms of the power situation. And is that really going to help a lot, Albo?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely it will. And we are targeting support for those most in need. People will have to see that detail tomorrow night. But we’re very conscious that, because global inflation, one of the things that when you gather at the Coronation is you get to talk to all of the leaders from other nations, and let me tell you that the UK and a whole lot of countries would want to be us right now.
LOCKE: Yeah, well, they just had to pay for a Coronation, so.
PRIME MINISTER: But inflation is something arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sort of aftermath of the pandemic, of what happened with global supply chains means that they’re under enormous pressure. So interest rates are hurting here, but they’re a lot higher in the United States, for example than they are here.
MCMANUS: Here’s the question on that, though, and I totally agree with that, but a lot of people go, ‘I don’t care what’s going on in another country’, they want to know what’s going on here and how, after the last election, both Liberal and Labor going, oh, mate, we can take control of inflation. And as we see it at the moment, it’s not in control, it’s not.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, because we live in a globalised world, and when something happens in one part of the world, it has an impact on us. So, what happened with the Russian invasion of Ukraine was Russia turned the tap off, and that led to, they’re Europe’s largest energy supplier and that led to an increase in global prices. Here in WA, of course, the Carpenter Government was really sensible, and made sure there was some domestic reservation of gas, which has meant that you haven’t had the same increases that have occurred on the East Coast.
MORRIS: Good on you, Alan.
MCMANUS: He was a teacher, and a Dockers supporter.
PRIME MINISTER: He did the right thing and it made an impact. And there’s a lesson there as well, that you’ve always got to think ahead. And part of my responsibility with the Budget is, and this is the tightrope we had to walk, how do you give people support whilst making sure that you put downward pressure on inflation? So, for example, on the energy price relief, instead of handing out cash that would add to the impact in the economy, we’re reducing bills. So, instead of it being inflationary, it’s deflationary, which makes a difference, puts that downward pressure on.
LOCKE: Well, we really appreciate you dropping by. It’s always a pleasure when we get to have the Prime Minister in the house. We will see you at the Lodge in a month or so, which is very exciting.
PRIME MINISTER: You will indeed, and I will now be intrigued by what you are wearing.
LOCKE: Well, it’s going to be, we’re Perth people and it was snowing in Canberra on the weekend, so we’re going to be wearing everything is the answer, just to keep warm.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s snowing now, apparently. So, in six weeks’ time, I’ll give you the big tip, it will be even colder, so make sure you wear your woollies.
MORRIS: Just a tip for the security, I would thoroughly search Shaun internally before he walks into the Lodge.
MCMANUS: And I’d gladly welcome that Nathan.
LOCKE: And thoroughly search Nathan internally on the way out.
PRIME MINISTER: No stealing the cutlery.
MORRIS: No we’re not stealing, we’ll just like borrow it and take it back to Perth.
LOCKE: It’s souveniring.
PRIME MINISTER: All of your friends, if there is anything, cutlery, chairs, plates…
LOCKE: Toto.
PRIME MINISTER: In Nathan or Shaun’s house, I reckon Nat we can…
LOCKE: I’m very honest, you can tell, can’t you?
PRIME MINISTER: But these guys I reckon, anything in that, can you report it please. Anything with PM&C on it is not theirs. PM&C doesn’t stand for Paul McCartney.
MORRIS: Are you going to have extra security posted on each of us?
PRIME MINISTER: Toto will look after you. Toto will be assigned as having her eyes on you. Which she will anyway.
MORRIS: I’m taking a selfie with your jocks on my head.
PRIME MINISTER: The big test is, Toto, I had a dinner recently and I just sort of sit there and it was various business leaders and Toto goes around and she is very cute, I’m biased, of course, but she will look up with those big eyes which say, ‘I have never been fed in my life, I’m starving’. And you wait to see who will give first food from their plate.
LOCKE: It’ll be me. Well we can’t wait, we’ll see you there. Good luck with the Budget tomorrow.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll get the pizzas ready.
MCMANUS: Good on you mate.
ENDS