Welcome to the Malcolm Turnbull Show!
WELCOME to the Malcolm Turnbull Show! In the strangest election event yet, the PM has hosted a stage-managed forum that came across like a talk show.
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WELCOME to the Malcolm Turnbull Show!
In the strangest election event yet, the Prime Minister has hosted a stage-managed forum that came across more like a talk show.
This morning, Mr Turnbull entered a Perth warehouse plastered with banners to the sound of his own voice.
Flanked by two of his most powerful and popular supporters, Liberal deputy leader Julie Bishop and wife Lucy Turnbull, he entered to sounds of his own uplifting speech playing over speakers, which talked about jobs for young people.
That pretty much set the scene for the “youth employment” forum, which was definitely the closest a construction company site has come to transforming into the set of a talk show.
PM or talk show host? pic.twitter.com/wnhoISpd8p
— Liz Burke (@lizeburke) June 14, 2016
Mr Turnbull was clearly well briefed, almost to the point where his speech seemed rehearsed.
He knew every name, job and backstory of the forum participants.
The forum was set up with some well-briefed “average Australians” sitting in a circle as Mr Turnbull roamed around with a microphone and a beaming face peppering them with questions. He was clearly stoked with his talk show host role, hearing such positive answers that fit so neatly with the Coalition’s “jobs and growth” mantra.
The PM has conducted few events on his campaign trail, usually preferring to hold closed-door press conferences with few interactions with voters.
.@TurnbullMalcolm, Lucy and @JulieBishopMP arrive at youth jobs forum to the sound of MT's voice over speaker pic.twitter.com/tKiPDutcoM
— Liz Burke (@lizeburke) June 14, 2016
Sky News host Peter van Onselen summed up the event nicely, asking: “Have you seen a more hammy version of television in your life? It felt like strained television to say the least.”
Originally published as Welcome to the Malcolm Turnbull Show!
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