Stain on his reputation? Australian PM denies soiling himself in McDonald’s

Sydney hip hop artist Joyride claims the incident took place at a McDonald’s in Engadine

File: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison holds a press conference at Kirribilli House in Sydney, Australia on 15 July 2021 (EPA)

Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has finally put to rest rumours about soiling himself at a McDonald’s restaurant nearly 24 years ago.

Hip hop artist Joyride had claimed the incident took place at a McDonald’s in Engadine, a suburb in southern Sydney, after Mr Morrison’s favourite rugby team, the Cronulla Sharks, were defeated in the grand final of the 1997 Super League, according to Sky News.

He had claimed of knowing about the incident through his friends who were working at the fast-food restaurant at the time.

“Engadine Macca’s” has long been a part of internet folklore. “Macca’s” is a word Australians use to refer to a McDonald’s restaurant.

Mr Morrison on Thursday tried to set the record straight when he appeared on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show on national radio station KIIS FM.

“Can I clear up one thing from ages ago?” the prime minister asked the hosts. To this, Kyle Sandilands, one of the hosts, said: “the Macca’s thing.”

The Australian prime minister then went on to term the incident “complete and utter rubbish”.

“It is the biggest urban myth ever, it is complete and utter rubbish. I found the whole thing incredibly amusing, I always joke about it amongst our team here as we’ve driven past it on occasions and I say ‘do you want to pop in for a Big Mac?’ It is absolute and total rubbish,” the prime minister said.

“Some of the funniest yarns are the ones that aren’t true and I think that’s one of them,” Mr Morrison said.

However, Mr Sandilands joked that it was “disappointing” to see the prime minister quashing the rumour. Nearly two years ago after the rumour had started, the hosts had asked Mr Morrison to come on the show to address it.

Jackie O, the other host, joked that the prime minister probably came for the radio interview only to clear up the situation instead of talking about the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

In April 2020, the radio hosts encouraged the hosts of another radio show to ask the prime minister about “Engadine Macca’s”.