Dr Mumbo

The best interview ABC’s Leigh Sales never did

Politicians can be tough people to nail down for interviews, particularly if they’re currently embroiled in a scandal or rort, which means ABC’s 7.30 has really struggled to get sport minister Bridget McKenzie into the chair for an interview.

ICYMI: McKenzie is currently facing criticism over sports grants given to marginal seats, or seats targeted by the Coalition, before the 2019 election.

The case against McKenzie is growing, with a spreadsheet of more than 2000 applicants found, colour-coded to which electorate the applicants were based in. A review is currently underway and Scotty from Marketing is staunchly standing behind McKenzie.

Among all this, a good way to set the record straight would be a TV interview. But perhaps it was decided this would be too much for McKenzie, because according to 7.30 she turned down their request for interview four times in a fortnight. So, being the enterprising bunch they are, they went ahead with the interview anyway, with veteran ABC journalist Leigh Sales facing off against an empty chair.

The internet has been quick to point out this isn’t the first time this stunt has been pulled on news programming, but Dr Mumbo applauds the drama of an extended shot of the chair in question before a cut to break.

Plus in the meantime, they’ve given satirist Mark Humphries a chance to reunite with his Pointless co-host [Dr] Andrew Rochford. Dr Mumbo recommends watching this one to the end for the ‘Extra Large Pork Barrel’.

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