Radio interview – 5RM Renmark
HOST: Good morning, Prime Minister. How are you?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. I’m pretty good this morning. It’s a beautiful day here in Sydney today.
HOST: So, you’ve made it back safely?
PRIME MINISTER: I have indeed. But it was a it was a lovely trip to Renmark just seeing the preparation that’s been underway, talking with the residents at the coffee shop and caravan park and all around. Talking to local government, of course, I came with Peter Malinauskas, the Premier. And it was, again, a reminder that at the most difficult of times we always see the best of Australian spirit. And I saw that in the Riverlands on Saturday.
HOST: Is that your main main takeaway from the visit, or just the mighty power of the river?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we flew along the length just about of the Murray and you just see the power of the river. Tragically, I’ve seen that too many times in recent weeks and months, in Forbes, in Parkes, in Eugowra, in Lismore on the North Coast. You saw different rivers there, of course, have an impact on that community. But in Rochester, in Bendigo, and, of course, Tasmania as well has been affected by floods in recent times. So, it is becoming, of course, far too familiar. But along the length of the Murray, you can just see it going out across the floodplains and the flooding occurring all the way from Mildura right through as the waters head towards the South Australian border where we’re seeing those rising levels now.
HOST: The levee construction that you saw firsthand, it must have been proud to see the community spirit and the contractors all working together and getting those mighty structures, some of them resurrected and some new ones being installed.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s great. You have contractors who would normally be competing against each other, they’re just getting on with the job of looking after their community. And once again, the police, the emergency services, SES, local government, you’re seeing everyone work together in just a fantastic way. And you’re also seeing volunteers just coming in. And it was terrific that when we’re at the caravan park as well, you had families who travelled from Adelaide and other parts, from Victoria, to spend some money and help the economy when it when it’s needed, the tourism sector has been really hard hit. They’re at the BIG4 Caravan Park at Renmark which is a beautiful spot and a great caravan park, I’ve got to say. They have built a levee that’s astonishing, really, to think that it wasn’t there a while ago. In a very short period of time they’re preparing for it. And that was inspirational as well. The owners of the past there deserve incredible congratulations. But they’re doing it tough, that’s the truth. Later today, I’ll be encouraging people to give support to the tourism industry as well by letting them know that it is safe to travel there and it is safe to spend a few days there over the coming festive period.
HOST: Is the Riverlands somewhere we can expect you to pop back for a little bit of a break once everything settled down a little, Mr Albanese? Is it on your holiday to see list? Since taking office, you’ve been pretty busy when it comes to travelling around the world.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m not quite sure what a break looks like at this point in time. I did have one week off this year. But since then it has been ‘go, go go’. I have a Cabinet meeting today. I’m greeting all the Premiers and Chief Ministers, hosting them tomorrow night and then Wednesday. Thursday I’ll be in Kalgoorlie and I’ll be back in South Australia on Friday afternoon in Adelaide. So, it’s a very busy schedule which is why the visit to Renmark was only organised really on Friday. The Parliament was due to sit on Saturday and when we got all the agenda through – it’s amazing what telling people Parliament’s going to sit on Saturday does for speeding things up – I was able to travel there on on Saturday and spend a few hours there. But it’s a beautiful part of the world. I have travelled there before, it was quite a few years ago.
HOST: And you’re always welcome, that’s for sure.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it was so welcoming. There at the main coffee shop there, Rosto, it’s a cracker I’ve got to say. It’s fantastic. And the burgers, they do breakfast burgers only on the weekend apparently. They look pretty good, I’ve got to say.
HOST: What’s your normal breakfast? I think it’s two boiled eggs or something, isn’t it?
PRIME MINISTER: It is. I try to just have eggs in the morning, they keep me going through to lunchtime, but occasionally for a special treat I’ll chuck some bacon in there as well.
HOST: We’ll have to organise your some Glenview eggs from down there at Pike River for you.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m sure they’d be very good. One of the things about travelling to the regions is that you get your fresh produce and the locals always know where the best stuff is.
HOST: Prime Minister Albanese, you’re encouraging people to visit the Riverland and many other parts of regional Australia, which is fantastic. But your neck of the woods, Sydney, is also a great place to visit and home to some fantastic suburban pubs, it must be said. A question for you, Prime Minister, I haven’t been to Sydney since COVID, is Reschs still on tap?
PRIME MINISTER: Reschs is still on tap, thank goodness. I’ve got a lot of craft breweries in my electorate, I think I’m up to 16. But a good schooner of Reschs still hits the spot.
HOST: Fantastic, because I have only ever seen that in Sydney pubs, Prime Minister. I haven’t seen anywhere else.
PRIME MINISTER: You won’t get it anywhere else, it’s very special. And there are people who are Reschs drinkers and that is all they will ever have. They regard it as the nectar of the gods.
HOST: That’s what we do here at 5RM, Prime Minister, we like to get to know the the unimportant stuff out of the way early in the chat and then we get to the important stuff like what beers you like on tap at your local.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s important. These issues all go to the quality of life.
HOST: That’s right.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to say there would have been a few Reschs drank at 6am yesterday morning while people were watching the Socceroos fight so gallantly.
HOST: Just two other questions that we like to ask everybody and I’m really interested to get your thoughts on these. We always ask and we’re going to ask you, Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese. The Honourable Anthony Albanese, who is your favourite Beatle?
PRIME MINISTER: My favourite Beatle?
HOST: Not as in insect.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s got to be Lennon. I think what gets what gets him across the line is his post Beatles career as well: Imagine, Mind Games – great album.
HOST: Stop it, you’re just teasing us with your music knowledge. Because you are an ex DJ.
PRIME MINISTER: I do, just as a bit of fun., DJ and I haven’t done it for quite a while. It is fun. Here’s a trivia question for you there. There are two Prime Ministers around the world who are former DJs. Who’s the other one?
HOST: Is it the Finnish Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it’s my friend Jacinda Ardern.
HOST: Yes, there you go.
HOST: So, Jonathan, finally we’ve got somebody who agrees with me that Mr Round Glasses, John Lennon, is the best of the Beatles. The other silly question – well not silly, this is a very, very serious question and I bet you haven’t been asked this in the media at all Prime Minister – if you had to go to a fancy dress party as one of the members of the Village People, who would you go as?
PRIME MINISTER: I would turn down the invitation.
HOST: Our digital department are sitting there waiting to superimpose a costume on you for all our social media platforms and you’ve let everyone down this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Who wants to be in a party with a Village People theme? Seriously. It’s going to be a dud party.
HOST: Look, we’re so glad that you came and had a look around. I hope the seeing the the high river event has empowered you when it comes to making decisions down the track, God forbid, we need a little more help. Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, thank you very much for your time this morning. Much appreciated.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much. And can I just let people know that Services Australia will be in Berry today, and if people need support to rock up there or they can ring 1800-302-787, because there are, across eight local government areas, support available as part of our disaster recovery support.
HOST: Okay, thank you very much, sir. We’ll chat soon hopefully.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.