When Roman Mackinnon joined the team at 6 News Australia just two days before Christmas, I didn’t imagine that less than six months later he and I would have an in-depth interview with none other than the prime minister of Australia (the interview will be live here tonight at 8pm).
Earlier this year we discussed getting big-name interviews for our election coverage. And who better to speak to than the leader and could-be leader of the country: Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
We tried to get Albanese. As Roman told viewers on Sunday night: “I tried to contact him via email; I sent a follow-up a week ago … and I made two phone calls yesterday — but they were declined.”
We’ve had a bit more luck with Morrison.
The PM’s team got back to us fairly soon after our initial email. We didn’t need to send a follow-up, and they told us they’d “try to arrange something”. Roman and I were stunned. We didn’t have a “yes”, but the fact that the prime minister’s team responded was incredible.
From that point the entire 6 News team prepared questions that we thought would be good to ask. Many never went to air, but several — including the infamous ones about lies and falsehoods — did.
A few weeks after our initial inquiry, the PM’s team followed up by suggesting it could potentially work something out “after the budget”. We were ecstatic — we were so close to getting a confirmed date.
When we were told a few days later that the PM would be available to speak with us “on Thursday at 10am or 10.15 Sydney time”, I was gobsmacked.
In the few days between that email and the interview, Roman and I worked tirelessly to prepare. We decided both of us would speak to him, and would mainly focus on two things. The first was obvious: the coming election. But the second was something a bit more personal for the team at 6 News: lies, falsehoods and fact-checking.
As has now gone viral (and been covered by Crikey) the PM spoke about Australians “not [being] interested in these types of juvenile debates” regarding whether he had lied.
Specifically we presented him with his own words — such as him denying that he called former Labor senator Sam Dastyari “Shanghai Sam”. He told us that he did indeed say that, effectively denying his denial. He said he had being taken “out of context” by media outlets.
Regardless of what he said, the fact that the leader of the country spent 20 minutes speaking to journalists aged 13 (Roman) and 14 (me) is, for me at least, extraordinary. I honestly feared it wouldn’t happen at first, after we were told the PM had to push back the interview by about 30 minutes. I had even taken the day off from school, so the interview not happening would have been devastating. Of course, it did. And the rest, as they say, is history.
People have said the PM “bullied” me. People accused him of mocking me, and even drinking alcohol during the interview (it was water). I don’t believe he bullied or patronised me. He and his team treated us with respect, were polite, and did not make us out to be “silly kid journalists”. So on that point, credit where credit’s due.
Now, let’s see if the opposition leader will give us a go.
