: Good morning. Good to be with you.
DAVE HUGHES, HOST: Was the Taylor Swift concert one of the best nights of your life, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: It was pretty awesome, I’ve got to say. Such a long performance, which had no sort of downs. It was, she’s a remarkable performer and everyone in the stadium just having a great time. A real, really positive vibe. Not just in the stadium, but I think in the whole city and the whole country while she was here.
ERIN MOLAN, HOST: Similar vibe to when the Matildas just stormed into the World Cup just a few months ago. Not so great for them now. Albo, what’s your reaction to learning that they are knocked out of the Olympics?
PRIME MINISTER: I feel so sorry for them. I’ve been to a lot of sporting events over the years. The mighty South Sydney winning in 1971, where my mum took me, and then me taking my son in 2014. That sense of history. But the Matildas versus France, that unbelievable penalty shootout, I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere where I think 50,000 people fit into Suncorp Stadium there at Brisbane. And for every single penalty shot, you could literally feel people hold their breath while it was being taken. And then the huge shouts of joy or of disappointment, depending upon what was happening. That was quite, quite remarkable. But the Tillies –
HUGHES: But you love sport. We know that you love sport.
PRIME MINISTER: I do. I think, in part, what’s happened at the Olympics, maybe, is that the World Cup was such a big deal, us hosting it and it being at home and it –
HUGHES: Sorry, Prime Minister – why hasn’t he popped over to Paris? Why not go to Paris?
ED KAVALEE, HOST: Zonal marking at set pieces is a disaster. And the Prime Minister is very strong on that. I’ve read the White Paper. I’ve read his White Paper on this. He’s very, he’s very strong on this.
HUGHES: Why haven’t you popped over to Paris, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I reckon that my job here is pretty important.
HUGES: Good call.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve been concentrating, concentrating on that, but watching a bit on the television. Anika Wells is doing a fantastic job as Sports Minister, and she’s over there. I’ve got to say that she was rubbing it in a bit by sending photos of her with Ariarne Titmus’ family after the gold medal and all that.
HUGHES: Come on, that’s your spot!
MOLAN: You could have reshuffled yourself into Sport just for the Olympics, Albo, and then reshuffled out.
KAVALEE: Your predecessor did it.
PRIME MINISTER: I did send her a message, over the weekend, pointing out the reshuffle was coming, saying she might have to come home because I might just appoint myself as the Olympic Minister as well as Prime Minister.
MOLAN: It’s been done before.
PRIME MINISTER: She’s been a bit quieter since then, it must be said.
HUGHES: Is it going to be easier to live in Australia, cost of living wise? Yes?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, it is getting better. And we have, of course, all of your listeners will have got a tax cut, that will help. Real wages are increasing, that will help. And we’re making sure that the support we’re giving, like our energy price relief plan and other measures, are all designed to take costs down, to put lower costs on inflation. Today I am out at a school with Michelle Rowland out at Stanhope Gardens in the suburbs north of Blacktown there, and we will be announcing there that 15,000 families now have got free access to the internet. That’s been really important to make sure that students who wouldn’t be able to be able to afford, essentially, families, to connect up with the internet are able to do so, so that they’re not left behind and disadvantaged by having that free connection to the NBN for 21 months.
HUGHES: It would be good to make the internet like water, where it’s free, like water’s free, isn’t it?
MOLAN: Do you not get a water bill?
HUGHES: Oh, no, it’s not free, is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Water isn’t quite free there. I don’t know what’s going on at your household.
MOLAN: He’s not even paying taxes.
PRIME MINISTER: Sydney water are probably listening.
MOLAN: Can I ask you, I know this isn’t Sky, but I’m just seeing all the headlines about Iran looking to retaliate. We know that there are significant issues in the Middle East. Prime Minister, how nervous are you about this, just broaching into something way bigger that’s going to impact us here in Australia? It’s a bit scary.
PRIME MINISTER: It is indeed. And let me say a message again, to repeat one that we’ve been saying for months now, for Australians thinking of going to Lebanon, please reconsider. In particular, and for people with relatives in Lebanon, we’ve issued a statement again saying come home because it is possible that the airport at Beirut won’t allow people to leave, that it’ll be shut. There is a possibility of an escalation here, where again, I issued a statement on Friday with the Prime Ministers of Canada and New Zealand again calling for a de-escalation of the conflict there. It is a real concern. Hezbollah have a serious military force. If there is a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, that will really add to the catastrophe that we’re seeing in the Middle East. And we remain very concerned, as do, of course, our friends in the United States have certainly been issuing these warnings as well.
KAVALEE: Righto. Thank you, Prime Minister. We will catch up with you again soon.
