Politics

‘We’ve got doors falling off’: Scott Morrison’s wife on his dodgy DIY skills

Sep 04, 2018

Morrison succeeded Malcolm Turnbull as the 30th prime minister of Australia. Source: Channel Nine/A Current Affair.

He might have a tough job on his hands as he settles in to life as prime minister of Australia, but it seems that Scott Morrison’s wife Jenny would rather he focused on things a little closer to home as she revealed there are “doors falling off” in their family home in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

Speaking to Tracy Grimshaw during Monday night’s episode of Channel Nine’s A Current Affair, Morrison was joined by his wife Jenny as the pair discussed the transition from life as the wife of the nation’s treasurer, to becoming the first lady of Australia.

Grimshaw asked Jenny, who married Scott at the age of 21, if she was happy that her husband had landed the top job – having beaten off competition from former foreign minister Julie Bishop and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton – to which she replied that she was “proud” of the father of her children, but often wished he had a regular job.

“I’m very proud of Scott,” Jenny said. “And it’s fantastic that he could actually be prime minister but, yeah, sometimes I just wish he was a plumber or something. Or even a builder because I’ve got doors falling off.”

The registered nurse, who has known Prime Minister Morrison since they were children, said she has been “extremely humbled” by the events of the past two weeks, following the second leadership spill which saw Morrison sworn in as the 30th Aussie prime minister.

“It is daunting to say the least, but just take each day as it comes and we’ll just make it work,” she added.

Morrison with wife Jenny and their two daughters Lily and Abbey. Source: Getty.

Grimshaw then addressed her as “the first lady” to which she replied: “That sounds funny Tracy. I don’t see myself as a first lady. I’m just a mum and I’m just doing my mum thing and looking after the kids and making sure everything’s as normal as possible.

“It’s sweet and wonderful but very normal, my kids are not perfect, I am not perfect. So, we’ll just be dealing with it and letting the girls keep a very normal life.”

And ScoMo interrupted, sweetly saying: “She’s always been my first lady.”

Jenny also revealed her hopes that the couple will be able to maintain their weekly ritual “curry night” which sees Scott take over the kitchen. She then took a dig at her husband’s culinary skills revealing that, before instilling this ritual into their daily lives, he “only did a boiled egg”.

The couple met at their local Presbyterian church when they were around 12 years old and began dating at the age of 16, before tying the knot five years later. They have daughters Lily, nine, and Abbey, 11, together, and endured several unsuccessful IVF attempts over a period of 18 years in a bid to fall pregnant, before conceiving both girls naturally.

On Monday Morrison spoke about his daughters during an interview about sex education classes offered to Australian school children, revealing to 2GB host Alan Jones that he opted to send his two daughters to an independent Baptist school to avoid them having “the values of others” imposed on them through the likes of sex education role-plays.

Introducing the discussion – which Jones warned could make the PM’s “skin crawl” – the radio host pointed out that some teachers are now asking students in Year 9 to take part in role-plays, acting out the part of bisexual teenagers who have had multiple sexual partners.

Asked if this will happen in classrooms under his own leadership, Morrison said: “Well it’s not happening in the school I send my kids to and that’s one of the reasons I send them there.”