New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet was mocked by the hosts of The Today Show on Monday in a bizarre pre-election appearance.
Mr Perrottet did the morning show rounds to spruik his government’s latest election promise, just 12 days before voters head to the polls.
The Kids Future Fund is the centrepiece of the Liberal Party’s election campaign, and will aim to help young people cope with spiralling house prices and student debt.
The scheme would see each NSW child under the age of 10 given a superannuation-style future fund, kicked off with an initial contribution of $400 from the government.
Each fund has the potential to grow to $28,000 by the time the account holder turns 18 – or as much as $49,000 with annual contributions of up to $1000 from parents and carers.
The ambitious scheme, which is expected to cost the government $850 million over the course of four years, was unveiled at a Liberal Party campaign launch on Sunday.
Dozens of children joined Mr Perrottet on stage for the announcement, with his seven children and wife Helen making an appearance shortly thereafter.
Ever-mischievous Today host Karl Stefanovic couldn’t resist poking fun at the premier’s big family during his Monday morning interview.
“You have 26 kids. How will you afford this every year?” Stefanovic joked.
“They weren’t all mine behind the stage yesterday, Karl,” Mr Perrottet retorted.
Stefanovic continued to poke and prod.
“I thought you were about to say they are not all yours. Poor Helen.”
Tweet from @TheTodayShow
The joking around didn’t end there.
Stefanovic also took aim at the premier’s dance moves, as vision of Mr Perrottet doing the Macarena during a visit to a community centre on the campaign trail played on screen.
“Just letting it all slip. It makes me wonder what Helen saw in you but there you go,” Stefanovic added.
“You have a crack. I’m better at Disney dancing,” the premier responded.
“That’s weird as well,” said Stefanovic.
Stefanovic and co-host Sarah Abo tried to pressure the premier into demonstrating his moves on the show – but with no luck.
“Go on, Premier. What could go wrong? There is only a week to go,” Abo said.
Mr Perrottet politely declined, saying it was “a bit early for that”.
“A lot could go wrong,” he said.
“Chris Minns would have done it,” Abo replied.
This isn’t the first time Stefanovic has butted heads with the premier.
Shortly after Mr Perrottet assumed office in 2021, the host pressed the premier over his religious views – particularly his position on decriminalising abortion.
Then again, in 2022, Stefanovic teased the premier over the possibility that NSW would be losing NRL grand final hosting duties to Queensland.
But the two seemingly made peace, with Mr Perrottet joking that the host could be his “date” to the Grand Final.
Mr Perrottet and state Labor leader Mr Minns will face off in the state election on March 25, with the NSW Liberals vying for a historic fourth term in office.
-with AAP
