Radio interview – 2SER Breakfast
DANNY CHIFLEY, HOST: We’ve got a special guest phoning in at the moment. Who do we have on the line right now?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: G’day, it’s Anthony Albanese here. How are you going?
CHIFLEY: Very well, thank you very much. That’d be Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed, indeed.
CHIFLEY: Thank you so much for joining us here today on 2SER. A bit sad to see the result there last night, but I would suggest a dawn of a glorious new age for football here in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s exactly right. It was heartbreaking last night, but it was also inspirational. The Matildas have inspired this and future generations to come. To see the young girls, but also young boys with their faces painted, with their jerseys on, attending the Matildas games, watching right around the country is an inspiration and it will have a lasting impact. The idea that you would have women’s and men’s watched by sellout crowds of 75,000 on repeated occasions in Sydney and Brisbane would have been unheard of 20 years ago. Some time ago, the Matildas played Brazil in Brisbane and they actually shut the gates without having any crowd because it wasn’t worth their while to open it. Now, what we’ve seen from the Matildas has transformed the nature of women’s team sport in Australia forever.
CHIFLEY: It is a wonderful day and age and I can’t wait to go to the park on the weekend and see all the kids running around in their Matildas jerseys. They’re with me welcoming a new age of football. Thank you so much today. And thank you so much for your support of the Matildas as well. It’s absolutely fantastic.
PRIME MINISTER: They have been amazing. They’ve carried themselves so well, not just on the field, but off the field as well. You can just get that sense of belonging to a team that they’ve had. They, of course, didn’t have their star striker, Sam Kerr, who we saw score that amazing goal last night. They didn’t have her on the field for most of the tournament and they showed that the team is more important than any individual and they just responded so well. And that’s why they’ve gone into the hearts of every Australian sporting fan.
CHIFLEY: Oh, indeed. Great to know you’re supporting that. Great to know that you’re a wonderful supporter of Australian Community Radio and Australian music as well. It’s very much appreciated and I know that we all really appreciate those efforts.
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed, I am a great supporter of Community Radio. You play such an important role, particularly supporting Australian music. Particularly independent bands, and people on the way up have got their start by getting played on stations that are associated with Community Radio right around the country.
CHIFLEY: Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for joining us here this morning on 2SER. It’s wonderful to have you on here. I’ve got a request for you, you know that song by the Saints, Know Your Product?
PRIME MINISTER: I do, indeed.
CHIFLEY: Is that a good one to play for you?
PRIME MINISTER: It is a great one to play.
CHIFLEY: Excellent. All right, mate. Thank you so much for joining us today. You have a wonderful day.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. I actually have that album on vinyl.
CHIFLEY: Well, there’s always a slot for you here at the station if you want to come in and play a few records, I’ll move some stuff around for you if you’d like.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll see what we can do.
CHIFLEY: Good on you, mate.