PM Scott Morrison, treasurer Josh Frydenberg are Ninja Warrior ‘tragics’
He may be dealing with one or the great crises of modern times but Prime Minister Scott Morrison still finds time to wind down with the family in front of the box — and he’s not afraid to admit he’s a fan of Ninja Warrior. MORE POLITICAL NEWS AND GOSSIP
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Scott Morrison might have his hands full grappling with economic and health consequences of a global pandemic, but the Prime Minister still finds the time to watch reality TV – well “sports reality”.
The Prime Minister gave himself up as an avid viewer of Australian Ninja Warrior on Nine after he began sending texts to the show’s host, Ben Fordham.
And Fordham has now revealed the PM is not the only Ninja “tragic”, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also sending through his “thoughts and analysis”.
ScoMo confirmed his Ninja addiction during an interview on 2GB’s Ben Fordham Live last week, declaring it his favourite show “apart from the footy”, with the Morrison household having watched every series since it began.
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“We love Charlie Robbins,” he said.
“But also I really like the tradie ninja. And of course, the girls love Olivia. I mean, she’s fantastic. I like how she goes over the wall with that cheeky sort of salute.”
Fordham told The Sauce that he often received messages from people when the show was on, but was surprised to begin receiving them from the PM.
He’s got strong views on the show and his favourite competitors,” Fordham said.
“I’ve asked both of them to put their names forward to take on the course next year.”
This year the prizemoney jackpots another $100,000, with the Ninja who can make it to the top of Mt Midoriyama taking home $400,000.
The Sauce can reveal a contestant will make it over — in fact, we hear more than one — with the winner coming down to who did it fastest.
Stay tuned.
THE ‘C’ WORD
A job ad piqued our interest this week.
Two media advisers are being sought to work for NSW Health, to work in a team at the department’s North Sydney headquarters at St Leonards. However, not one mention of the “C” word.
Surely the virus is pretty much all the media office is dealing with right now? While the renumeration is nothing to be — ahem — sneezed at, at between $110,745 and $122,038 plus superannuation and leave loading, The Sauce wonders if the “35 hours per week + on call” is designed not to scare away prospective applicants given the hours we hear some of the bureaucrats are putting in at the moment, including Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant, who has gone without sleep on some nights.
If this job still sounds like you, applications close August 10.
BAIRD FUTURE
Talk of former premier Mike Baird potentially being installed in the seat of Warringah appear to be premature, with plans underway to bring forward the preselection to the first half of next year.
Local Liberal sources say the move is significant in that it is designed to enable the candidate ample time to build a profile well before the federal election. Should Baird have been interested, the preselection would have been held back.
With the ex-NAB chief customer service officer only taking on a new gig as chief executive officer of Hammond Care three months ago, the chances of Baird jumping back into politics were unlikely, one local source said.
While Mr Baird has not ruled out a return to public life, it is understood he would need to be convinced by the Prime Minister.
Given there is still a long way to go, we’ll be watching closely.
WHO PAYS FOR QUARANTINE?
Federal MPs rushed back to Canberra this weekend to quarantine themselves for two weeks ahead of the next parliamentary sitting fortnight.
New lockdown measures mean that any Victorian MP who wants to attend will have to self-isolate in Canberra first. The other option is to stay locked up at home and force their families in Victoria to do the same. The Sauce understands several Victorian MPs have booked apartments in Canberra and requested staff fit out their new lockdown digs with exercise equipment, electronics and reading material.
Party sources say more than a dozen of Victoria’s 50 MPs, including Greg Hunt, Dan Tehan, Julian Hill and Kim Carr, have put their hand up to do two weeks’ quarantine in the ACT.
Nine staff members have also agreed to do the two-week lockdown in Canberra. And who could blame them?
The Sauce understands MPs and their staff will be able to claim travel allowance, worth more than $3000, while in lockdown. Other MPs, including frontbencher Michael Sukkar, will self-isolate in Melbourne, meaning his wife and children will be forced to do the same.
National MP Darren Chester will skip the sitting fortnight and work from his home in Gippsland to prevent his family from being forced to stay at home. Corangamite MP Libby Coker has also confirmed that she won’t be travelling to the nation’s capital when federal parliament returns.
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