THE HON. JEFF KENNETT
PREMIER OF VICTORIA

Mr Kennett, thanks for your time.

Good evening.

You’ve called an election.

For the eighteenth of September.

During the footy finals.

Yes, there’ll be a show of hands at half-time in the preliminary final.

And you’re confident?

I hope I’m not over-confident. There’s always a chance something will go wrong in this type of thing.

In an election?

Anything where people are given a choice, yes.

There’s always a chance they’ll get it wrong?

There is, sadly, yes. Mistakes happen. They’ve happened before.

They have. You’re spending twenty-four million dollars on education.

No, we’re not.

If you get in.

If we get in we will, yes. We’re certainly not doing it at the moment.

Have you got the money?

Are you kidding? The economic management of this state is probably the best in the country at the moment.

Things are going well?

We’re rolling in it. Haven’t you seen the accounts? We’ve been rolling in it for years.

Why aren’t you spending twenty-four million dollars on education at the moment then?

We will if we get back in.

It’s needed, is it?

Yes, the education system in Victoria is falling apart.

Why?

I forget why.

Bad teaching perhaps?

No. Can’t be that.

Why not?

We fired the teachers.

How’s the health system going?

You’ve lost me. The expression ‘health system’?

Back to education then. Why haven’t you done something about it?

We’re going to.

If you get back in.

I can’t do anything about it if we don’t.

But if you’ve got the money, why don’t you do it now?

Are you reading the questions properly?

No, I threw away the questions you gave me.

What are you reading now?

I wrote my own questions.

That’s smart. Where were you educated?

I was educated before you got in.