Selfies, pots and pokies: PM fields budget questions at Seaford Hotel
Pints were being pulled amid the fluorescent glow of the pokies as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrived at the Seaford Hotel on Tuesday night.
A white sedan pulled up at the door just after 7pm and the Prime Minister, who was dressed in a white shirt, black blazer and trousers, emerged to a rock star welcome, with punters cheering and rushing to get selfies with him on their smartphones.
With a pot of beer in hand, the Prime Minister fielded questions from a packed galley, with the crowd taking the opportunity to grill him on the latest federal budget, housing affordability, terrorism, the banking royal commission and the divide between the country’s rich and the poor.
“It’s a strong budget that sticks with our values and the promises we made in 2016,” Mr Turnbull told the crowd.
Moments before embarking on a lengthy Q and A session with community members, Mr Turnbull had just one request: “I wouldn’t mind a beer, thank you.”
Within seconds, a bartender had poured a pot, and it was passed through the crowd to the Prime Minister.
“I must say it’s a fine drop,” he said, raising his pot into the air.
Seaford resident Alyse Brown used the Q and A session to grill the Prime Minister’s commitment to young people in Melbourne’s south east like herself who she said were living below the poverty line.
“Are you prepared to increase the Newstart allowance?” Ms Brown asked. “My friends and I have all done a lot of the maths on our own and I suppose if you put in rent and you put in bills, what you have left when you’re living on $40 a day … you could kind of afford one trip on public transport or a box of (cereal). It’s under the poverty line and it’s hard.”
“Look I get it,” Mr Turnbull responded. “It is increased in line with inflation twice a year … it is lower than the aged pension but it’s not designed to be a subsidy for the minimum wage. It is meant to be a safety net for people between jobs who are looking for a job. We strongly believe the best form of welfare is a job.”
Tensions flared when members of the construction union, the CFMEU, questioned the Prime Minister about job security, wage theft, and increasing the minimum wage in Australia.
But Seaford resident Joanne Moody said she’d come to the event to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister.
“I came here for a sticky-beak,” she said. “I’ve never seen a prime minister out visiting the community and it’s what he should be doing so I’m thrilled to see him here tonight."
While one punter said it felt like a "staged liberal party fundraiser", another punter said he was somewhat disappointed and wished Mr Turnbull could have shouted the entire pub a beer like former prime minister Bob Hawke.