Prime Minister Morrison flags optimism of next-generation Liberal leadership
IN AN exclusive sit-down interview — his first since becoming Prime Minister — Scott Morrison admits his party must heal but vows to fight Bill Shorten on fairness.
NSW
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SCOTT Morrison says he will be a “fresh and optimistic” Prime Minister.
In an exclusive sit-down interview — his first since becoming Prime Minister — the former treasurer admits his party must heal but vows to fight Bill Shorten on fairness.
“Fairness means many different things to many different people but to me it means that if you have a go, you’ll get a go,” Mr Morrison said.
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“That’s what we bring to the world, that optimistic attitude where everyone can have a go.
“A fair go doesn’t mean everybody gets the same things, a fair go assumes you are going to have that go.”
In the days since he became Australia’s 30th PM, Mr Morrison has reached out to party greats including Peter Costello and John Howard.
But Mr Morrison, 50, believes his rise to the top alongside deputy Josh Frydenberg signals a generational change for the Liberal Party.
“The circumstance in which Josh and I have come into the leadership are quite unique in modern political times in Australia.
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“We have both stepped up to these roles having been very supportive of the Prime Minister and Julie (Bishop, the former deputy leader).”
“We have crossed that bridge yesterday (Friday). It wasn’t a bridge we all necessarily wanted to cross at the start of the week ...
“The fact there hasn’t been a recession since the one I experienced when I left university is a great thing and I don’t want to see any of the generations that have followed me experience one.
“Australians always brings a fresh, optimistic tone to every conversation,” he said.
On Friday night Mr Morrison was meant to be at home to cook a curry for wife Jenny and his two girls, Lily and Abbey.
Instead Australia’s newest Prime Minister has spent the past 48 hours in briefings with army chiefs and taking calls from world leaders.
It’s a big change for Mr Morrison and Jenny, whom he met through church connections when they were both teenagers, marrying at 21.
Mr Morrison spoke to his wife in the moment before he entered Friday’s ballot.
“I said: ‘At the end of the day, you are always here at the end of the day, and that’s what matters most’,” Mr Morrison said.
“It’s a pretty significant moment. I would have wanted Jen and the girls here either way.”
Playing in his office yesterday afternoon, daughters Lily, 9, and Abbey, 11, seemed oblivious to the change their family has seen.
“They are young girls and Jenny and I obviously want to be very careful of that,” Mr Morrison said.
He hasn’t ruled out moving his family to Canberra.
“This is a big change … but we make these commitments as a family. At the moment we will stay in the Shire. It’s pretty hard to pull people out of the Shire it doesn’t matter whether you are nine or 50.
“One of the things the girls said to me this morning, they said: ‘Does this mean you’ll be speaking to Mr Trump?’ I said ‘yes, it will, darling’.”
Of his first call with the US President yesterday, Mr Morrison said: “I did tell him I was a rubbish golfer.
“I am not quite sure that term is well known in the US so there are other phrases I have and I’ll have to be careful of using Shire-colloquialisms in international engagements.”
Mr Morrison will next week visit drought-stricken Queensland.