Culture

Malcolm Turnbull Had Another Horrifyingly Awkward Moment On A Train

There's never been a more awkward time to be a Prime Minister trying to catch a train.

by Osman Faruqi  28 September 2016

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Malcolm Turnbull loves trains. He can’t get enough of them. He also loves documenting his public transport experiences on social media, to help create the impression he’s just like the rest of us.

It should be illegal to look this happy while catching public transport. But surely when the Prime Minister mixes with us regular people, it isn’t all sunshine and roses? There must be a few interactions that Turnbull doesn’t want to share on Twitter.

Thanks to some new footage filmed by the good folks at The Project we can now see just how awkward some of these train interactions can be.

In the video, Turnbull, and his wife Lucy, are standing in the carriage smiling at no one in particular when the Prime Minister realises he should probably try and talk to a commuter, since there are cameras around. The nearest passenger is a woman holding a striking bunch of flowers. This is what follows:

Malcolm (grinning, for some reason): Beautiful flowers.

Flower lady: Thank you…. Clivia (referring to the flowers).

Lucy: Yeah. They’re beautiful.

Flower lady: Modest.

Lucy: Very modest, but bright.

Flower lady: Hmm. Like me.

At this point Malcolm looks like he’s going to say something, thinks twice and turns away from the woman. He and Lucy stand there in silence together, while the flower lady seemingly refuses to acknowledge the fact that the Prime Minister of Australia was desperately trying to engage her in conversation.

You can watch the whole interaction below:

On one hand the PM deserves to be applauded for having a go, but at the same time why start up a conversation if you’ve clearly got nothing to say? Come on mate, lift your small talk game!

It’s not the first time Turnbull has struggled to engage punters on a train. Back in June, while travelling to Emu Plains in western Sydney, Turnbull helped a woman board and tried to strike up a conversation before realising she had no idea who he was.

There’s never been a more awkward time to be a Prime Minister trying to catch a train.