South Australian Liberal Nicola Centofanti repeatedly forgets names of FIVEAA hosts in radio trainwreck
So-called train wreck interviews must be avoided at all costs by politicians, and they usually are.
But the Liberal leader in South Australia's Upper House must be wishing she'd stayed in bed for a sleep-in this morning rather than appear on breakfast radio.
Nicola Centofanti volunteered her voice to radio station FIVEAA.
She was explaining why the Liberals are attempting to block new government regulations which are aimed at making public transport safer, with potential lifetime bans for violent offenders.
Centofanti got off to a rocky start calling the presenters by their wrong names.
Instead of 'good morning, Will and David' she kicked off by greeting 'Matt and Dave'.
They were the long-time arch enemies of AA on the radio waves, namely Matt Abraham and David Bevan on ABC breakfast radio.
Abraham at least now contributes to AA, whereas Bevan has retired and ridden off into the well-superannuated sunset.
AA announcers David Penberthy and Will Goodings were clearly unimpressed and corrected her for which she apologised.
But 30 seconds later she doubled up, again wrongly referring to them as Matt and Dave.
Penbo's fuse was getting shorter by the second, eventually accusing her of 'having the disrespect of not knowing our damned names'.
Name calling, or miscalling, aside, why was Centofanti on in the first place?
The Liberals have called for a tougher stance on law and order, but feel the new regulations are being pushed too quickly through the SA Parliament.
'These regulations are being rushed through without consultation,' she claimed.
'We need time for these regulations.'
The Libs' new concern is of potential unintended consequences from lifetime bans for troublemakers.
From July 1, the transport minister will have the discretion of banning commuters who cause trouble on trams, trains and buses.
That may be for a week, a month, or life.
Unions are in full support, having seen drivers assaulted with almost weekly incidents of violence towards passengers as well.
It's hard to argue against strong action being needed sooner rather than later.
Why the Libs are now trying to stall the regulations coming into force seems bewildering.
In a muddled explanation, Centofanti claimed that victims of domestic violence could get caught up in the mayhem and be wrongly banned from catching public transport.
But I've got news for her.
The regulations are going to happen anyway.
Centofanti and the Libs had a lot to learn from today's transport-related train wreck, pardon the pun.
It's unforgiveable to get announcers' names wrong, especially when the other pair has been absent together from the airwaves for almost a decade.
That howler and the basis of her wobbly argument were then ridiculed by the right pair as 'just amateurish'.
With the state election nine months away, Centofanti is likely to become a Liberal voice for various campaign matters.
If this maiden voyage is anything to go by, she may struggle for relevance.
Any future appearance on FIVEAA breakfast is likely to be greeted with some mirth from David and Will.
They're totally professional and not vindictive types, but deserve a better performance than Centofanti dished up, or perhaps Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia should take reins next time.
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