THE HON. KIM BEAZLEY
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

Mr Beazley, thanks for your time.

Pleasure. Good to be here.

Yes. (Bryan relaxes. He smiles at his guest.)

Would you like to ask me some questions?

No thanks. Just happy to have you here.

Why am I here if you don’t want to ask me anything?

We need balance.

Balance?

Yes, balance in the program.

Balance.

The ABC is very concerned with balance.

What is balance?

I’ve got no idea. It’s not a decision I make. It’s upstairs.

Balance with what?

We’ve had the Prime Minister in a couple of times. We need to balance that out.

With me.

Yes.

How do I balance the Prime Minister?

You’re still with the Labor Party?

Yes, I’m the leader of the Labor Party.

Yes. Even better.

So what do we do?

Doesn’t much matter. How’s the economy?

Hard to say.

The war in Iraq?

Very difficult to say. Not really our war.

Health? Education? IR? The environment? What are you doing?

I thought I might try to finish the crossword.

That’s ‘apathy’.

What is?

That one ending with a y.

Which one?

Six-letter word meaning ‘laziness or want of energy’.

No, I’ve got that one.

What is it?

‘Policy’.

Policy?

Apathy? Could be. So what’s this one down here?

What is it?

He was blank to be elected into high office for a decade.

How many letters?

Ten.

Triumphant.

Oh.

What did you have?

Wilderness.

No, it ends in a t.

Why?

Because that one across is Green voters.

‘A generation of disaffected young people’?

Yes. What have you got?

Bugger them.

That doesn’t fit.

It does if you colour a couple of these other squares in black.

What’s that big one running down the side?

‘Reason given for the war in Iraq’.

Thanks for coming in.

Doesn’t fit.

No, I’m thanking you.

Oh. Have you got a rubber?