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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talks tax reform, China, Point Piper, Kirribili House on 7.30

IT WAS supposed to be Malcolm Turnbull’s first big grilling as PM by the ABC’s hardball host. Then things got awkward.

EMILY MOULTON and Liz Burke
5 min read
September 22, 2015 - 9:51AM

IT was his first major political TV interview since becoming PM, but in the end, it was his ABC interrogator Leigh Sales who copped the most flak.

Malcolm Turnbull laughed off the first question put to him by the 7.30 host, who was accused by viewers of being “soft”, apologetic, even at times “flirtatious” with the country’s new leader.

Sales appeared to adopt a very different interviewing style to the hardball approach that earned her criticism from Mr Turnbull earlier this year, when he advised the award-winning reporter and another of her female colleagues to take a “less aggressive” approach to their interviews.

Hostile and challenging questions and follow-ups were last night swapped out for apologies and courteous, flirtatious exchanges. And Twitter wasn’t copping it.

Critics just about had enough when it came to one over-the-top apology by Sales — basically the TV version of “no, you hang up first” — after she rightly tried to cut off a waffling Mr Turnbull during a soap box speech about his own success and plans.

Sales: “I’m sorry, but you’re not at the dispatch box and you’re not at the bar, so I’ve got to squeeze in one more question before we run out of time.”

Turnbull: “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

Sales: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry to be rude like that too.”

Turnbull: “You’re not being rude at all. It’s quite understandable.”

Sales: “No, no, I did cut you directly off.”

Turnbull: “That’s fine.”

This morning, Sales hit back at the criticism which she has become used to since she took the helm of the national broadcaster’s flagship current affairs program.

She tweeted a “handy template” for those wishing to criticise her performance on 7.30 in the future.

The interview was in marked contrast to Sales’ final tete-a-tete with ousted PM Tony Abbott two weeks ago, when she bluntly asked him why he had never been an effective prime minister in a decidedly testy exchange.

“I refuse to talk our country down and I hope the national broadcaster might join me in looking for the good and boosting our country which has so much potential,” Mr Abbott fired back.

And in August, Sales was cleared of bias by the media watchdog after giving then-treasurer Joe Hockey a good grilling in a controversial post-budget interview.

In it she was criticised for interrupting Mr Hockey 14 times and accusing him of “backflips”, hand-outs” and making “excuses”.

She opened with the searing question: “Is this what a political retreat looks like?”

The Australian Communications and Media Authority concluded her treatment of Mr Hockey had been “fair”.

Aside from the waffle and hand-holding between interviewer and subject, there was some talk about policy — and plenty of talk about Malcolm — during the 22-minute exchange.

The new Prime Minister began by explaining how the Government was a Coalition government, a Liberal-National government that was “committed to ensuring that Australians were free to chose their own direction” adding that “freedom” was the key point.

Then he lost most of us.

While his predecessor Tony Abbott was renowned for using three-word slogans to get his message across, Mr Turnbull used far more. Way more.

So many more that his waffling became a source of fun on social media.

Among the waffling, Mr Turnbull did manage to explain that one of the first things his new Cabinet will tackle will be tax reform and that he would “inspire confidence”.

But when asked how he would do that if Australia’s economy either stays the same or worsens, he wasn’t so clear.

And when asked by Sales if reforms in other areas were “on the table”, the PM said that he wasn’t going to “rule things in or rule things out”.

“One of the things I am trying to do is to change the paradigm so it is a more rational one,” he said.

When Mr Turnbull tried to answer what he thought was the biggest global threat to Australia and our country’s defence policies, he wasn’t clear which terror organisation was Australia’s biggest threat.

Leigh Sales has been criticised in the past for her hardball interview style.
Leigh Sales has been criticised in the past for her hardball interview style.

What was clear was our PM’s view on a what he viewed was a more pressing threat, China.

Mr Turnbull told Sales that he thought in terms of our region “the rise of China”, was very concerning adding that he thought the country’s territorial claims were “counter-productive policies”.

He explained China’s actions had the potential to disrupt peace in the region.

But the real waffling didn’t begin until the Prime Minister was asked to answer what he had learnt from the last Liberal Party leadership coup, when he was ousted by Mr Abbott in 2009.

He said he was now more confident, centred and respectful of the wisdom of his colleagues.

He then rambled on about not being good at “analysing” himself but then went on about his success.

But the real clanger came when Sales asked the PM what he would say to people about understanding what it’s like to struggle given his background.

Mr Turnbull started by saying he didn’t grow up with a “silver spoon” but then launched into his time at the prestigious financial institution Goldman Sachs, in New York, sparking this reaction on Twitter.

Responding to a question about how voters could relate to someone who seemingly never had to struggle, Mr Turnbull acknowledged he had been extraordinarily lucky in his life, though there still had been challenges.

“Even if you’re born with brains, a higher than average intelligence, that is, in a sense, as undeserved as someone who inherits a billion dollars,” he said.

“The fact is we’ve all got to recognise that much of our good fortune is good fortune.”

Speaking of his time at Goldman Sachs, where employees in New York were told they deserved success because they worked hard, he recalls telling the chairman: “There are taxi drivers in this city that work much longer hours than anyone does here (at Goldman Sachs) and they don’t earn very much at all.

“The truth is, we don’t really deserve our good fortune, that’s why if you do well, you’ve got to give something back. That’s why I encourage people to be generous.”

As he rambled on about being committed to being “extremely consultative”, sales interrupted Mr Turnbull to ask him where he intended to live.

The question of where has been hot topic for the past week given he currently resides in a multi-million dollar waterfront mansion in Sydney’s east.

The Prime Minister revealed that he will continue to at his Point Piper mansion, which has been estimated to be worth $50 million, and use the official Prime Minister’s residence, Kirribili House for political functions and charity events.

“Lucy and I will continue to live and to sleep in our house in Sydney which is of course agreeably close to our grandson. Kirribili House has been used by Prime Ministers and we’ll use that for official entertaining, for charities and opportunities to support good causes.”

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/tv-shows/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull/news-story/24519742c287c15dce8515a5ad7cf5e6