WHAT do you say when you unexpectedly bump into the Prime Minister Scott Morrison while out shopping in Mount Eliza?
You offer him one of your just-bought custard tarts, or course.
Ninety-three-year-old Joan – who did not want her surname published – nevertheless said she was thrilled to have a quick chat with Mr Morrison on Friday (5 July) while down the street in Mount Eliza Village.
“We had a lovely exchange of words and I wished him well in the election,” she said.
While he did not accept the offer of a tart, according to the great grandmother of 15, the prime minister commented on her age-defying health, saying the Mornington Peninsula “must be a great place to live”.
Mr Morrison’s lunchtime visit provided an opportunity to do some not-so-subtle campaigning, squatting on the street to speak to children, patting dogs and even stepping into a hair salon to wash the hair of one of the salon’s staff.
Within minutes, he was whisked away by his team to another destination for more meeting and greeting with Dunkley Liberal candidate Sharn Coombes.
Dunkley is now held by Labor’s Peta Murphy, who defeated Liberal Chris Crewther at the 2019 federal election. Before Mr Crewther’s election in 2016 Liberal Bruce Billson had for the previous 20 years held the seat.
While some on social media were less than polite about the PM’s made-for-media hair washing demonstration, Joan’s grandson Tom said it was sometimes necessary to put politics aside as it had made his grandmother’s day.
First published in the Mornington News – 8 February 2022
