Rogue heckler sets off Scott Morrison’s toughest day of election campaign

The PM’s election campaign has reached its most desperate point, with a rogue heckler setting off Scott Morrison’s toughest 24 hours so far.

Interest rate hikes threw up one of the biggest challenges Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced on the campaign trail but it was something else that kicked off what was perhaps his toughest 24 hours: a mouthy mum.

No one else has the ability to snuff out your swagger like an on-the-go mum. They don’t care if you’re out in public or how many people are around - they will raise their voice until you give in and do as you’re told.

It was one of these mums - fresh off the school run - who caught the PM off-guard during what was supposed to be a tame visit to a bougie grocery store on Tuesday in the seaside Melbourne suburb of Mount Eliza.

“Go Albo!” local mum-of-two Sues Tonks yelled from the footpath, as the Prime Minister quickly strode into Palamara Village Fruits after bursting out of a white BMW that pulled up in the middle of the street.

Pointing out that a federal election campaign is tightly controlled is like bemoaning a reality TV show for being highly edited. Like, duh.

Still, sometimes, a speckle of authenticity glimmers in the sunlight. And it usually comes by way of rogue hecklers who yell out at the Prime Minister like they’re drunk-ordering at the Maccas drive-through from the open back window of an Uber.

These are the moments of truth.

The PM’s visits to Palamara Village Fruits in Mount Eliza was almost derailed by an on-the-go mum. Picture: Jason Edwards

As ScoMo proceeded to walk around the grocer and feign interest in fresh produce, Sues stood back near a counter of whirling smoothie blenders with crossed arms and sighed at the throngs of security, advisers and TV crews that crowded the narrow aisles of the tiny store where she does her weekly shop.

“I just wanna buy zucchinis,” she shook her head.

“I’m a part of the kinder and the primary school - he does not have hold here. Everyone’s been talking - it’ll be Albo. And that’s why he’s (Morrison’s) here - blocking people from getting their shopping done.

“He rolled up in a couple of white BMWs and hopped out of his car and didn’t say hi to anyone and just walked directly to what represents the cost of living (the grocer). It’s a prop. And much like the hairdressing thing last time - he’s the butt of the joke.”

She nodded across the mounds of mandarins and plastic bags of potatoes, towards the back of the store where the PM had squeezed in behind the glass cabinets of the deli counter to help pack a cardboard box with produce from a customer’s internet order.

“Chicken stock - you always need that,” he remarked.

The keen observations kept coming.

“Nice big butternut pumpkin, perfect for a curry.”

“I like to put spinach in my curry.”

‘Perfect for a curry.’ Picture: Jason Edwards

Curry was clearly the only thing on his mind that morning. Just 24 hours earlier, he’d been mocked online for posting a photo of a korma he’d cooked on the weekend in which the chicken appeared raw.

Standing behind that deli counter in Mount Eliza, he quickly changed the topic to avoid any questions about his alleged near-miss with salmonella.

“That’s a fennel,” he noted, pointing at a fennel.

Sues had proven her point.

And later, while the PM stood in front of $4.99 heads of iceberg lettuce to front a last-minute press conference, Sues didn’t allow herself to become deterred by the formalities.

“Go Albo!” she yelled out again from the next aisle over as the PM looked into the lenses of the many TV cameras and tried not to offer even a flicker of a reaction.

It was the first hurdle for a tough day that later saw the sullen-faced Prime Minister front a media pack to answer questions about the higher-than-expected interest rates hike.

White-knuckling the sides of the lectern at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne, the look in his eyes suggested grave concern, as if the long-rumoured Engadine Macca’s incident was about to be repeated.

Scott Morrison white-knuckled his way through a press conference after the first interest rates rise in a decade. Picture: Jason Edwards

It was perhaps the only day of the election tour that’s thrown some spontaneous surprises at the PM. Over the past four weeks, he has been whisked through low-risk locations by his team who’ve co-ordinated a schedule of tightly controlled events.

Opportunities for drama have been kept to a minimum. Shopping centres? Too risky. They should be avoided at all costs, lest a bogan holding a yellow JB Hi Fi bag starts heckling the PM from an escalator. Advisers at the PM’s office don’t want a repeat performance from mouthy mums trying to buy zucchinis.

Instead of public appearances in open spaces? Two nursing homes within 48 hours. What a rager.

Only, they’re not called “nursing homes” these days. They’re “lifestyle villages”. The elderly have been rebranded.

These events are the epitome of safe, and not just because of all the handrails and non-slip rubber grip mats.

The first lifestyle village visit on Monday in Geelong’s Mount Dundee resembled the gated Calabasas community the Kardashians live in. And the residents – who weren’t told the identity of their special guest beforehand – gave the Prime Minister a rockstar welcome when he bounded into the communal dining area.

A rockstar welcome at the Living Gems Retirement Village in South Caboolture, Brisbane. Picture: Jason Edwards

Rumours of a ukulele club started circulating around the media pack and everyone braced themselves for a bunch of elderly people in matching vests serenading the PM with a slightly out-of-tune rendition of April Sun in Cuba.

The nans gushed over him as he sat down at a table to enjoy their moist sponge cakes. It was like watching The Bachelor, but sexier. “Will you accept this franking credit?”

And the pops? Their experience wasn’t as positive.

For a photo op, the PM was guided over to a pool table where a couple of gentlemen were playing a friendly round. But good sportsmanship got tossed out the window the moment Sco picked up a cue and sank a ball. The crowd went nuts. Rapid-fire snaps from the cameras clicked around the room. That’s when the Prime Minister got cocky. Sure, it was just supposed to be a photo op, but like hell he was gonna walk out on a game he was already winning at.

The PM did not go easy on retirement villagers once he picked up a pool cue. Picture: Jason Edwards

So he sank another ball. Then another. The cheers got louder. At one point, he may have even sank one of the other guy’s balls – but it’s hard to say for certain because everyone was so giddy at the high-stakes match playing out in front of them.

The Prime Minister made those old people eat dirt.

In terms of campaign optics, it was a total win. So it makes sense that, after the 24 hours from hell on interest rate day, he wanted to relive the magic. The first stop this morning was another nursing home – this time in the marginal Adelaide seat of Boothby.

But the rockstar welcome didn’t come.

The nearby plate of supermarket croissants went ignored and two pool tables in the next room were suspiciously hidden. Sco sat in a tiny loungeroom and made small talk in front of the cameras.

Did it get things back on track?

“It’s too much,” one of the residents rolled her eyes. “Very over the top.”

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