The cut and thrust of election campaign politics arrived on the
Adelaide airwaves this morning when South Australian Liberal leader Rob
Kerin fronted for an interview with ABC radio 891 morning presenter
Matthew Abraham.

According to one listener, whose email landed just before our deadline, what happened next was a little out of the ordinary:

After a reasonably wide
ranging interview and with just a few moments to go before the 9:00 news
bulletin, Abraham’s final question was to ask Kerin if he would stop drinking
and sign the pledge if he was elected. The question obviously caught Kerin
completely unprepared and as he floundered Abraham reminded Kerin that Bob Hawke
had famously sworn off the booze.

Then before Kerin had chance to recover his
equilibrium the program switched to the 9:00 news bulletin. Listeners were
left with the distinct implication that Kerin had a drinking problem.

We rang Abraham find out what the ambush was all about. A producer
confirmed that Abraham had asked the drinking question but said she was
answering calls and didn’t hear how Kerin handled it.