Subjects: Australia Day; Woke Woolworths’ Australia Day farce.
E&OE
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Australia Day is exactly one week from today, January 26th, and I know some folks don’t like that date, but that’s the date. It’s there, it’s been there for as long as I can recall, I don’t think it’s going to change anytime soon; and I have noticed though because it’s coming up, it’s one week away, all the anti-Australia Day types have been out.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
I hate – this is why, one of the reasons why I actually wish they would change the date, because I want to celebrate Australia. What a wonderful country we live in. And it’s a wonderful day for all of us to get together, and now we’re guilty for celebrating it on this date and that is…
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Well, no. People want us to feel guilty. I don’t feel guilty. I don’t feel guilty at all about the day.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Well, I would rather do it knowing that everyone’s happy.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
That’s never going to happen. They could change the date and people will still have a problem because there’s some people out there that always…
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
But eventually they’ll get over it. They’ll get over the changing of the date. They will.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Those types that whinge about everything, not just Australia Day, but every little problem, every little thing. They never get over everything. They never. That’s just their nature.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Anyway. Yep, yep, yep, yep.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
But I did see Peter Dutton, Leader of the Opposition, the Liberal Party Leader. You know Pete? Used to be our Defence Minister. I did feel safe when Peter Dutton was the Defence Minister, ex-cop and all that, you know. He knows his sh*t.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Right. Yep.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
He’s come out and said, oh, he’s got the rag on with Woolworths and Big W because they’re not selling thongs and Australia Day hats and sh*t like that. I believe he’s suggested, ‘oh, well boycott that company, don’t go there, you know go somewhere else’. And Woolworths have come out and said, ‘no, there’s a decline in sales of Australia thongs and bucket hats and stubby coolers. It’s been a steady decline over the years’, and Woolies have come out and said, ‘you buy one Australia Day esky, you’re also going to use that probably for the next 20 years on Australia Day. You don’t need a new esky, a new hat and new thongs every year’. But Woolies did lose a lot of the value of their company yesterday in the stock market – like it seems to be working.
So we’ve asked Peter Dutton to come on. Like should we be boycotting Woolies? Woolies have always been there, all through the pandemic. Woolies were there, Coles were there. Working, working, working. Is it the right thing to do to boycott Woolies, or is this just what Woolies can do? They’re like, ‘oh hardly any bastards buying thongs…
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
It’s business.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
…so we’re not doing it’.
Peter Dutton’s on the air. Good morning Sir.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Hi.
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Kyle. ‘Morning Jackie.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
How are ya?
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
‘Morning.
PETER DUTTON:
I’m well, how are you?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Good.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Good.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Now, are you yourself buying a pair of these thongs? And you were like, ‘well, where are they? Where are these thongs? They’re not here to be seen in Woolworths’. Is that where you’re at?
PETER DUTTON:
I’m not a big wearer of the Australia Day thongs, I’ll be open and honest with you.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Same.
PETER DUTTON:
But I just reckon people should be able to make their own decision – people want to celebrate Australia Day, they don’t want to celebrate Australia, that’s their decision…
BROOKLYN:
Can’t they just buy the stuff somewhere else?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
They can buy it somewhere else, but Peter’s making the point.
PETER DUTTON:
Go to Coles.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
But I think Peter was making – I don’t think, has Coles got any Australia Day stuff in there?
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah, Coles is proudly flying their flags and I think a lot of customers are going there, which is a good thing.
I just think you got to Woolies to buy groceries, hopefully at the cheapest possible price, and that’s their business. Their business is not to tell us whether we believe in Australia Day or not. They don’t make the decision for us and I just think a lot of these big companies need to hear that message that we’re capable of making our own decisions.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
But is it possible that people have made the choice and therefore because of the decline, like I understand what they said about eskys – you don’t need one for another 20 years, but a hat and thongs, those things you probably will buy again – but perhaps there is such a decline in the sales of those that they don’t see it as viable, and therefore we technically have made that decision.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Jackie, I think they started out with that argument, and then they abandoned it by saying ‘oh no, no, hang on, we’ve had discussions with our reconciliation committee’, and I think they then were honest about it that they were making a statement. It wasn’t anything to do with a decline in sales. I’m sure it doesn’t carry the huge profit that they make each year, through the sales of flags or whatever it might be, but I mean Chinese New Year is coming up, they’ll have stuff there for that. That’s fantastic. Diwali, they’ll celebrate Diwali and have those items for sale for people for the Indian community, and that’s fantastic, but just let people make their own choice.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
You’re right, you’re right.
Now I sort of understand where you’re coming from, because at first I thought, ‘oh, someone as established as Peter Dutton, should he be…’
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Interfering with?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
But then, you know what? If he doesn’t, then who does it? Who says what’s right?
I believed Woolies when they said, ‘oh, you know, no one’s buying that sh*t’. But then, well, you make a good point, when they have these other cultural events on throughout the year – and I love that an Indian family or a Chinese family can go off and find all these celebration items with ease, but why is the average Australian punished?
BROOKLYN:
We still have Easter and Christmas stuff, you know, it’s just this one day.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Oh, sorry Peter. Brooklyn’s woke.
PETER DUTTON:
We got our first hot cross buns this week, I’ve got to say.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Brooklyn’s woke.
BROOKLYN:
Yeah, I’m really woke, Peter.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Well, you’re woke adjacent, I feel.
BROOKLYN:
Yeah, not all the time. But Peter, you’re with the Liberal Party, obviously, which generally sides with business. Don’t you think business just has the right to make its own decisions?
PETER DUTTON:
I think the customers do, and I think their business at the moment, particularly, is to try and find ways – you know, if they’ve got some spare time sitting around the table coming up with these ideas, work out how you can take care of the farmers who are providing the milk and the produce to the stores, and make sure that you concentrate on getting the prices down for families who, at the moment, are just being smashed and they struggle when they get to the checkout to pay the bill. You’re getting less for every dollar you spend, and I just think their effort should be in that direction. Let the politicians be politicians, let you guys have a say and everybody ultimately can make their own decision.
I just don’t think the corporates have a right to tell us what we’re thinking or what choices we can be limited to. People go in there, they spend their money – many are loyal to a Coles or Woolies or an IGA or Aldi, whatever it might be, and what about the employees that don’t agree with the boycott? What if they want to celebrate Australia Day with their mates and they have a traditional family barbecue?
There are literally millions of Australians who receive their citizenship on 26 of January in years past and it’s a huge celebration for them. So why take that away from them?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Yeah.
PETER DUTTON:
Accept that there are mistakes in our history, absolutely. We’re very proud of our Indigenous culture, but there’s no country in the world that’s been settled without bloodshed and without difficulty in their past, but trying to shame Australians into being embarrassed about Australia Day – we live in the best country in the world, let’s celebrate it.
Accept that mistakes have been made, and look at ways, more importantly, into the future about how we can bring people together and continue to be in the greatest country in the world.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
You know what, Peter? Peter Dutton’s on, by the way, everyone. There’s only 20 per cent, on multiple polls, the biggest number of people supporting a boycott of Australia Day, the top number is 20 per cent. So in any poll, that means the rest of us don’t want it boycotted. So why is this even an argument? Why is the tail wagging…
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Because they’re very loud. They’re very loud that 20 per cent, aren’t they?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
But everyone realises, the haters and the troublemakers and all these people b****ing online – at the beginning, like in 2000, we thought, ‘oh, everyone thinks what these five people on the comments say’, but we’ve realised over a decade that that’s bullsh*t. That the whingers and the complainers seem loud, but the majority don’t believe that. So I say…
PETER DUTTON:
I also think there are a lot of CEOs…
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Oh yeah.
PETER DUTTON:
I think there are also a lot of CEOs out there who just want to be popular on social media, and the marketing people are saying, ‘take this cause up and this will make you popular with the investors or popular with younger people, whatever it might be…
KYLE SANDILANDS:
It’s often the exact opposite, though, right, happens?
PETER DUTTON:
Exactly. I agree, I agree. I think they got it wrong last year, and I think they’ve got it wrong this year.
I think Qantas learnt a big lesson in saying to their customers how they should vote in the Voice, when in the end, people wanted to be informed and they could vote ‘yes’ or vote ‘no’. That was their prerogative. They don’t want to be told by…
KYLE SANDILANDS:
So do you go to Woolies now? Like if your Mrs says, ‘Pete, we’ve got no milk. Run off down to Woolies’. Do you go, ‘oh sh*t, I’ve got to go all the way to Coles now?’. Like, has this interfered with your own day to day?
PETER DUTTON:
I’m happy to go to Coles. I mean, we shop at I guess whatever’s convenient normally. We try and shop at IGA because we’ve got a great IGA locally, and actually try and buy milk from a local farmers group in our area, because I just think they do a better deal for the farmers…
BROOKLYN:
Imagine that paparazzi photo of Peter Dutton going into Woolies.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
I know.
BROOKLYN:
That would be great. I want to see that.
PETER DUTTON:
Coming out with another packet of hot cross buns.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
It’s almost worth – yeah, and just the normal, you know, the Coles milk or something like that, you know.
Listen, I wanted to get you on, Pete, because I’ve heard little snippets here and there, but I wasn’t sure of the full argument. So thanks for coming on explaining it in greater detail.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Thanks Peter.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
He’s not a bad bloke.
PETER DUTTON:
My pleasure guys. Thank you.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Yeah, welcome.
BRUNO:
Oh sorry, can I ask a question, guys?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Yes. Bruno’s here, everyone. What’s your question?
BRUNO:
Oh, hi Peter. Hey, my question was, did you have an issue with the Prime Minister going to Kyle’s wedding? Because I think you were against that, weren’t you?
KYLE SANDILANDS:
I didn’t hear that.
PETER DUTTON:
No, I was fully in favour of it. I just hope he got all the tunes right and that…
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Oh, he didn’t play. We didn’t put him on the decks. He just sat there.
PETER DUTTON:
Oh, really? He would have been frustrated by that.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
No, he didn’t play. I said to him, ‘nah, nah you’re not getting up there. We’ve got a proper DJ’.
BRUNO:
Oh, okay because your Deputy Sussan Ley came out and slammed Albo, so I thought you’d all be on the same page with that.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Well that’s not Peter. That’s his underlings.
BRUNO:
Okay. That’s fair enough. Just thought I’d ask. Sorry.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
What a sh*t stirrer. What are you trying to do here?
PETER DUTTON:
Couldn’t help yourself, Bruno.
JACKIE ‘O’ HENDERSON:
Yeah, he couldn’t.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
Do you know who Bruno is, Peter?
PETER DUTTON:
I don’t know Bruno, but I’m happy to go to his next wedding.
KYLE SANDILANDS:
You don’t want to. No one’s going to marry this bloke.
Thank you. Peter Dutton, Leader of the Liberal Party there.
[ends]