Scott Morrison and Ray Hadley laugh about coal prop: 'Great stunt'

Radio host tells treasurer he is a fan of stunts as Morrison explains he was trying to make a point about energy policy by holding up a lump of coal

Scott Morrison jokes about coal theatrics with Ray Hadley

Elle Hunt

@mlle_elle

Scott Morrison and Ray Hadley shared a laugh on Sydney radio as the shock jock praised the federal treasurer’s “great stunt” on Friday when he brandished a lump of coal at the opposition during question time on Thursday.

Morrison relayed to the 2GB presenter how he had urged Labor “don’t be afraid, don’t be scared” of the rock, and the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, had juggled with it in question time.

Scott Morrison brings a chunk of coal into parliament

Hadley revealed he was a fan of the “odd stunt myself” during their interview on Monday morning.

“Were you channelling me at any stage when you got that big hunk of coal and hid it – were you thinking that wasn’t such a bad stunt with the Bible, I’m going to try to do it with coal?” Hadley asked, referencing his attempt to make Morrison swear an oath that he had backed Abbott in the leadership spill.

“I do all my own work Ray, just like you,” Morrison responded.

After the moment of mutual admiration Morrison told Hadley he was “actually making quite a serious point” about the Labor party’s “demonising” of coal at the expense of their own constituents.

“We’re not saying that the only thing we should be doing going forward is coal, that wasn’t the point. I mean our policy is all of the above. We have no more a fear of coal than we have a fear of wind, or solar, or wave energy, or pump-hydro, or whatever the option is.”

Morrison suggested that Labor was not afraid of coal, but of the Australian Greens. “Because that’s what driven them to write off those jobs of those people in their electorates, and they’re basically cheering on the closure of coal-fired power stations.”

Many on social media refused to share in Hadley and Morrison’s merriment over the coal stunt as large parts of Australia’s east coast sweltered in unprecedented temperatures over the weekend.

HRH Terry Australis (@AustralisTerry)
Day 2
50 C
Koalas dying.
Cattle dropping dead, crops cooking in fields.
Aus Minister for Agriculture says 'burn more coal'#agchatoz #auspol pic.twitter.com/2FSLh7yPni
February 12, 2017

Clive Hamilton (@CliveCHamilton)
Aust'n temp records smashed. Fire danger 'catastrophic'. Govt ministers laugh as wave lump of coal at those who want clean energy. Wicked. pic.twitter.com/4mefkB4OJ2
February 12, 2017

The coal was from the Hunter Valley and, in response to persistent questioning from Hadley, the treasurer confirmed that he had brought it in “in a little bag”.

“It was too big to put in your pocket,” observed Hadley.

“I brought it in a little bag,” repeated Morrison. “Look, sometimes you’ve got to do something like that to get some attention onto the issue. I could have just got up and said ‘it’s important that coal is part of the mix of things going forward’.”

He said five coal-fired power stations were due to close within the next decade, posing a “significant issue” with electricity supply. Morrison wanted coal put “back on the table”.

“The Labor party and the Greens took coal off the table, they treated it like a toxic substance – I just thought that was an insult to the men and women who live, in many cases, in their own electorates whose livelihoods depend on it.”