ABC guest suggests PM’s white bread comments show ‘deep lack of understanding’

The Prime Minister’s revelation that he eats “normal white bread” has been slammed by an ABC guest who took him to task over it.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison eats “normal white bread”.

That’s what he told Sunrise host David Koch last week when he was asked if he preferred sourdough or multigrain.

The seemingly innocuous comment about the PM’s breakfast preferences did not go unnoticed and formed a talking point on ABC panel show The Drum.

One of the show’s guests sent social media into a spin when she embarked on a rather bizarre explanation of what Mr Morrison’s comment really show us about the man who leads the country.

“I think the comment about the white bread was really interesting,” said Nareen Young, who is Professor for Indigenous Policy at the University of Technology Sydney.

“Who eats white bread in this country? Anglo men. I come from a working class background.

“We had brown bread because we were healthy. I think it shows a deep lack of understanding about who works in this country.

“I think that there’s a deep intersection of race and class … I do think there are some politicians who understand what the working class looks like. It’s not white anglo men.”

Professor Young’s comments were shared on social media alongside a second clip from a previous appearance on The Drum in which she admitted she is close friends with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.

“I have to offer a disclaimer here,” Prof Young said. “I’ve known him for a really long time and he was the best man at our wedding.”

“Who eats white bread in this country? Anglo men”

I can’t believe these people are real

pic.twitter.com/jpkq4MZGHR

— Sandy Lanceley (@sandylanceley) February 7, 2022

Sandy Lanceley, who shared the videos on Twitter, wrote: “I can’t believe these people are real.”

“Surely satire,” one commenter wrote.

Australian Financial Review columnist Jennifer Hewett was also asked about the PM’s choice of sliced bread.

“He’s just trying to identify with what an ordinary bloke is,” she told the program.

“It wasn’t actually the only possible answer and I think it’s actually going to come back to haunt him.

“He could’ve said, ‘just your basic bread, sometimes I like a bit of wholemeal’.

“He’s trying to emphasise that he understands ordinary families and many families will just choose the cheapest bread, which is often sliced white bread.”

The comments come after Mr Morrison’s National Press Club address was hijacked when he failed to answer a question from The Australian’s Peter van Onselen about how much a loaf of bread and a litre of milk costs.

One of Mr Morrison’s cabinet colleagues later tried to help by leaping to his defence.

Employment Minister Stuart Robert said that if the Prime Minister’s wife Jenny was with him, she’d be able to “rattle off all the prices of all the things they buy”.

Seeking to play down his major blunder at the National Press Club, the Prime Minister took to breakfast television to defend himself on Wednesday.

Nareen Young criticised the PM's comments about white bread when she appeared on The Drum.

“For the record, it depends which type of bread. I mean, how many different types of bread have people got at their homes these days? Milk? I mean, not all kinds of milk come from a cow anymore,” he told Sunrise.

“It’s one of those things they do at the press club to make a bit of a headline.”

He later told the ABC something similar.

“From the Prime Minister‘s point of view, if he’d sat there and Jen was with him, she’d be able to rattle off all the prices of all the things they buy,” Mr Robert said.

“I’m sure they have that conversation, often as all families do. My wife and I certainly do.”

The Employment Minister claimed his own family purchases three different types of milk because his kids prefer the almond and soy varieties over dairy.

My eldest son likes almond milk. I don’t know how you get milk from almonds,” he added.

“My youngest son is into beans, I think it’s called soy.”

Former prime minister John Howard, who Mr Morrison considers a mentor, used to be asked the same question.

Mr Howard would carry with him a piece of paper that outlined the running costs of bread, milk and other household staples.

At the moment, a loaf of bread costs about $4, a litre of non-premium fuel costs about $1.80, and a rapid antigen test costs about $17.

Originally published as ABC guest suggests PM’s white bread comments show ‘deep lack of understanding’