THE HON. MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE
MINISTER FOR HEALTH

Dr Wooldridge, thanks for your time.

Nice to see you. Sit down. What seems to be the trouble?

You’ve created a bit of a furore with your remarks about tampons, which attract the GST because they are, of course, a luxury item.

Yes, well, I’ve apologised for my remarks.

Why did you apologise?

I got told to. John Howard rang and told me to apologise.

Why did he say you had to apologise?

Apparently I’d upset a whole lot of people.

Who were they?

I don’t know. Some minority interest group somewhere.

Women?

That’s it. That was them, yes. I don’t know who’s organising them.

You don’t know who women are?

Yes. I know who women are. I’m a doctor.

You’re trained to tell the difference.

Oh yes, it’s one of the first things you learn.

But you didn’t recognise them as a political grouping?

I didn’t realise they were working together, no.

I don’t think they were, were they? Until you united them.

I’ve provided them with a point on which they all agree?

Yes.

That’s certainly the thrust of a lot of the emails we’ve been getting.

That you’re a little p…?

Yes. That I’m just a little patronising.

Have you done it before?

The tampon routine, ‘I beg your pardon, I didn’t know menstruation was a disease.’

Yes. The comparison with shaving cream.

Oh, I’ve done it plenty of times. I’m a doctor. It normally works pretty well.

It’s pretty funny, isn’t it?

I think it’s funny, yes, and as I say it normally goes gang busters.

Who is your normal audience?

I’m a doctor.

So mostly blokes.

Yes. And a lot of women who want to marry doctors.

They’d find it funny.

Oh, they are the greatest audience.

They’d pick up everything I suppose would they, the women?

Not if they look after themselves they won’t.

How are they going to look after themselves?

Yes, we’re getting a lot of emails about that.