Radio Interview - Fitzy & Wippa

Transcript
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister

HOST: Anthony Albanese, welcome to the show.

HOST: Welcome buddy

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.

HOST: Mate, firstly, thank you for hosting. We're very excited that the backyard cricket has returned to Kirribilli House. As we throw around a few names, is there anyone in particular you think should be at our cricket game?

PRIME MINISTER: I reckon Peter Garrett would be a goer, I’ve got to say. He's tall. He's got to be able to bowl from that height. Fitzy you from one end, Pete from the other. That gives you a bit of height, doesn't it?

HOST: He'd be pretty sore at the moment. I got to see him at Luna Park last Wednesday. They played ten to one. You saw him at the Hordern on Monday night. That went for three and a half to 4 hours. Is that correct, Albo? Were you dancing?

PRIME MINISTER: It was unbelievable. They played a fair bit of Head Injuries and Powderworks and Place without a Postcard, all the old stuff. And then they played the big hits: Beds are Burning, Power and the Passion and all of that. It was an extraordinary performance. And Pete, he's so fit.

HOST: He's so fit for his age. He's nearly hitting 70 years of age. But this is the thing, let's talk about performance because, Prime Minister, you know over the years our previous Prime Ministers – the spotlight has been on you when you roll the arm over. We know, Bob Hawke was the famous pull shot where he had his glasses smashed. We had John Howard, who unfortunately just couldn't get the ball out of his hand properly.

PRIME MINISTER: That wasn't a highlight, was it?

HOST: Highlight for everybody else, Prime Minister.

HOST: So, Albo, the question is: how do you go rolling the arm over?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'll have to wait for next Thursday. I don't want to give too much away. But let me say, as a cricketer, I make a good politician.

HOST: Similar to me on radio. Don't worry about that. We're going to continue to build the guest list, but at the same time we're going to bring in a fair bit of food. There'll be a barbecue. It's going to be a great day. I mean, out of the list of events that are hosted at Kirribilli House, there are some big ones. This must be one you've been looking forward to for a while.

PRIME MINISTER: This was a motive for running for Prime Minister. A motive, you’ve got me going.

HOST: Albo, not yet. You haven't had the first eleven, the Australian cricket team there yet. You haven't hosted them yet, have you?

PRIME MINISTER: No. That happens at the beginning of January, I think it's New Year's Day or January 2 that will happen and I look forward to that. I've been to that a couple of times. When Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard, I think I went twice. Once with each of them in January. That's always a very good event.

HOST: We can't wait. The other good thing is, well, we get to have a Barbie at your place as well. Kirribilli House, which is just magnificent. That magnificent view there. We did say that the Governor General…

PRIME MINISTER: Who’s in charge of the weather?

HOST: You are. You need to handle that as well. I know you've got a bit on your plate, but if you could sort that out.

PRIME MINISTER: We're doing our best to deal with climate change. It's not a terrific day in Canberra, I've got to say.

HOST: Well, Prime Minister, this is another subject that we need to touch on. This is unbelievable because it was a headline that struck us, Prime Minister, on the Daily Mail: Botox, Fillers or just Clean Living? Albo debuts a fresh new look as he sports a smoother complexion following his weight loss and style transformation. Have you had botox? And how many fillers have you had, Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER: Seriously, I think whoever wrote that article has been having botox in the wrong place.

HOST: You reckon they're dribbling a bit, do you, Albo?

PRIME MINISTER: They're in real strife.

HOST: Well, for anybody listening, right, they might be carrying a couple of kilos. The body transformation for you was significant. I commend you on what you've done. What was your one tip or secret that you had to the weight loss?

PRIME MINISTER: Don't eat the bread.

HOST: Right. You got off the white, did you, mate?

PRIME MINISTER: There you go. I just had this morning, I had two boiled eggs for breakfast. It keeps you going to lunchtime. Stopping eating in between meals is the big thing.

HOST: Snacks.

HOST: What about the light beer at the Unity Town Hall in Balmain? Do you get to still have a light beer every now and then, Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER: I get to have a beer every now and again, both light and heavy. You've got to live.

HOST: You can’t give it all up.

PRIME MINISTER: The other key to live in moderation to not give up everything. So I haven't given up everything. I have the odd hot chip and all of that, not be too religious about it. And it took a long period. It was over 18 months. But the real motivation, I don't recommend this, is to have a near life-ending car crash, bit of a wake-up call. That’s what happened for me, I was determined to get better after I had an accident in January of almost two years ago now. And that was a real wake up call, to get fit and to get healthy. And it's worked. I feel much better for it, and I just feel much better in the morning, but much better throughout the day, too.

HOST: Well, you'll have the day off next Thursday. We'll fire up the barbecue.

HOST: No, he's not having the day off. He'll be opening the bowling, actually, if we worked out whose team Albo is on. Tommy, can we do that now?

HOST: Yeah.

HOST: Can I grab the Prime Minister?

HOST: Go for it. Yeah.

HOST: Very good.

HOST:  Do him proud. You and Peter Garrett back together again.

PRIME MINISTER: If we're not doing real well, then given its Kirribilli, I can shut some things down. Or turn the sprinklers on.

HOST: Security breach? Something like that.

HOST: Have a ferry crash into the side of the house.

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, we have to stop there before the winning runs ahead

HOST: Thank you, mate. We're looking forward to this and a lot of planning to do, Tommy. We thank you for your time, Prime Minister

PRIME MINISTER: Looking forward to it and raising money for a good cause.