ANNA:I've been with Luzia every day for years and years. I don't see her outside work but we know each other really well. We talk about our families and all of that. We talk about husbands;Luzia's got a really nice husband.
We don't talk to each other while we're cleaning. Only when we have morning tea and lunch. We've got a special room,just for the two of us,behind the Prime Minister's office. We've got everything there. I said,"I want a fridge,I want a cupboard for the linen,I want a microwave."We got everything. Toaster,telephone and a table,everything,they fixed it for us. The prime ministers have all been good to us,really. All eight of them. We can't complain.
I treat them like human beings and that's how I like to be treated. John Howard,he was very nice. Once when he had a new secretary,some younger sheila,I said,"I have to water the prime minister's flowers."She said,"You can't go in there."I said,"What's the matter with you? I've been doing it all this time."She said,"You can't go in."Then the prime minister came out. I said,"Prime minister,good morning. Can I water your flowers?"He said,"Please do."I said,"Thank you,pumpkin."
I like to make them happy,make them smile. I always say,"Good morning,prime minister."They say,"Good morning,Anna."Just Keating,he was really ... I said to Linda,his secretary,"Why doesn't he say'Good morning'when I say,'Good morning'?"She said,"He's putting his head down and thinking about a lot of things. That's why,love. He's occupied."Then I understood. I said,"Okay,but I'm going to keep saying'Good morning'until he says it back to me."It took him three months.
Tony Abbott used to arrive really early and have a shower. I said,'Tony,can you come a little bit later so I can have my coffee in peace?"He said,"You can have a coffee around me."I said,"No,you make me nervous."He was really good fun. And Julia Gillard,she was really good. If she came in for an early interview and she had someone fixing her hair,I'd say,"Make my prime minister look nice and sexy."She laughed.
I like Penny Wong. When she was a minister,she always talked to us and asked how we were. And Josh Frydenberg,I call him Joshie. I said,"You don't mind?"He said,"Nah,I love it."
Luzia talks with them more than I do. Usually I just say,"Hi pumpkin,how are you?"But Luzia stays and talks. That's her personality. I say,"Come on,woman. We have to go."
I love working here. It's really nice. If I retired,I would miss it very much. And yes,I would miss Luzia.
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