If you'd dropped into the Old Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo on Saturday afternoon, you may have stumbled upon an unexpected scene.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, normally cautious about the type of media appearances he agrees to, sat down at the Sydney pub for a boozy interview with satirical newspaper the Betoota Advocate, broadcast live on Facebook.
"We're going to ask him a few hard questions, ask him a few easy ones," Errol Parker, one of the two men behind the online outlet, foreshadowed before they joined the Prime Minister. Realistically, the questioning was on the softer side.
Mr Turnbull did have to dodge an opportunity for a stab at his predecessor Tony Abbott. Editor Clancy Overell​ suggested a comparison between Mr Abbott and rugby league player Robbie Farah as "a great clubman, he's been there for years, hasn't done much else but he can't get on with whoever's in charge".
"No. No," Mr Turnbull insisted, with a grin and chuckle. "No, you can't tempt me into that area."
He did recently accuse Mr Abbott of deliberately sabotaging the government's popularity with an "outburst".
he interviewers also raised a controversial 2016 election ad they created with Bob Katter in which the independent Queensland MP shot and killed some political rivals. Mr Turnbull and others condemned the ad at the time.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE
"You're always welcome on the bus but I think we'll have a little bit more control over the creative," Mr Turnbull said, asked if the outlet could join a Liberal campaign. "Keep the guns locked up in the safe in accordance with the law."
The interview occurred as the Western Australian election was under way, with Mr Turnbull's state Liberal counterparts expected to lose government as the result of a heavy swing to the Labor opposition. The Prime Minister has steered clear of the campaign following a poorly received trip in February and local hostility towards Canberra.
In Saturday's gathering, he responded to questioning on the arguably unlikely threat of Russian hacking and interference with the state election.
"I am not concerned by it because we've got very good protection against cyber-hacking and it is very much a paper-based system," he said.
The Prime Minister also impressed with his knowledge of Banjo Paterson's poem A Bush Christening. And, for the record, "Barnaby Joyce is very, very good at computing".
The tongue-in-cheek interview marks a fresh media play from Mr Turnbull, who has so far focused on traditional interviews with large radio stations and TV networks. The government is currently faring poorly in the polls, trailing Labor 55 to 45 per cent two-party preferred, according to the latest Newspoll.
