Subjects: Reflecting on John Laws’ incredible radio career.
E&OE.
JOHN LAWS:
We have Peter Dutton on the line. Are you there, Peter?
PETER DUTTON:
Lawsy, how are you?
JOHN LAWS:
I’m very well. What a nice surprise.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it’s lovely to talk to you, mate. I wanted to give you a call – out of respect as much as anything – to say on behalf of I’m sure many people, thank you for the wonderful contribution you’ve made to our country. Many of us have grown up listening to you in different forms and at different stages of our lives and you’ve always been a very strong voice for our country and what’s right. You’ve always been very clear about what’s right and wrong for Australians and I want to say thank you very much for the enormous contribution you’ve made to Australia.
JOHN LAWS:
Aren’t you kind to do that? That’s very, very nice of you, Peter. You know, I do appreciate it. It’s very touching really, that people are saying things like that. I didn’t think I was that important. But for you to give me a call makes me feel very comfortable, and I thank you for it.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Lawsy, we take comfort from – I think I read some words where you said you just wanted to ‘take a break’. So, I presume there may be a second coming at some stage and you might be back on the air in the years to come! So, maybe just a little bit of a sabbatical and then you’ll be back on the air?
JOHN LAWS:
Ah, I don’t know about that, but I never say never.
PETER DUTTON:
Never say never!
JOHN LAWS:
No. Peter, how nice of you to call – really.
How do you think things are going generally in the country?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, Lawsy, I think a lot of people are really under pressure at the moment. People have got big mortgages and they’ve got big repayments, they’ve got increasing insurance bills, the bills, I think, are just stacking up. A lot of families, as well as small businesses, are just seeing it much tougher than it was a couple of years ago.
I think, as it was in the US, it’s a similar story here: are you better off today than you were three years ago? And I don’t think many people say that they are.
JOHN LAWS:
No, I don’t think they can say that they are.
PETER DUTTON:
I don’t think so. But I think we’ve got to offer a message of hope. We can manage the economy well. We can get things back on track, and I think if you look at the history of our country: there have been good times and bad, and we live in the best country in the world, and there can always be good times ahead. So, we have to make sure that’s the case and we’ll have a tight election coming up, but we are doing well, and we can win it, I believe, so that’s all ahead.
JOHN LAWS:
Good on you, Peter. I appreciate your call very much. It’s very, very nice of you, and I hope we don’t lose contact altogether.
PETER DUTTON:
No, not at all mate. I think I owe you a bottle of red wine, or you owe me one from one of our last bets, so we’ll have to consume that slowly and responsibly at some point.
JOHN LAWS:
‘Slowly and responsibly’, what’s that about?!
PETER DUTTON:
We can start out that way!
JOHN LAWS:
Peter, thank you very, very much for the call. I appreciate it greatly, and I do hope that we do have the opportunity to quaff a dram at least one more time.
PETER DUTTON:
Indeed, mate. Take care.
JOHN LAWS:
Okay. And to you too, Peter. Nice man, that.
[ends]