Radio interview – ABC Radio Gold Coast Mornings
SARAH CUMMING, HOST: Prime Minister, good morning.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Sarah. It was an absolutely glorious day on the coast there yesterday afternoon. I did a tourism roundtable with business leaders firstly there at Burleigh and it was it was very hard to leave I’ve got to say, having woken up in a very frosty Canberra yesterday morning.
CUMMING: I bet that would be a shock to the system. I was curious and I thought a visit to the Gold Coast in June, is the Prime Minister trying to avoid the bitterly cold Canberra winter and soak up our glorious sunshine or perhaps –
PRIME MINISTER: No, but it was a bonus.
CUMMING: Or maybe you were here to congratulate us, the Queenslanders on our State of Origin clean sweep.
PRIME MINISTER: Now you’re rubbing it in. Well, I must say in a sledge back to the media here, that the press gallery in their wisdom decided, not for the first time I might add, to schedule the press gallery ball, that’s a big charity event, on State of Origin night. So, we all missed it and it was a good one to miss. But congratulations to Queensland, quite clearly they were, I still haven’t seen it, but quite clearly were the very much that the better team. But then again New South Wales should have had Campbell Graham in the centres, it should have… anyway we won’t go there.
CUMMING: Oh, excuses, excuses Prime Minister. Now, you were here on the Gold Coast of course because the Fadden byelection is coming up. It is one of the safest LNP seats with a 10.6 per cent margin, political experts saying it’s really unwinnable for Labor. What are you hoping for in Fadden? Is this about a bit of a moral victory or trying to land some political punches?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Letitia Del Fabbro is a fantastic candidate and she’s having a crack, she ran, of course, just a year ago. We know the circumstances of this byelection with Stuart Robert resigning under a cloud, not bothering to go to Parliament to resign, just sending in a letter basically, after all those years and him presiding over Robodebt. That, of course, is a disastrous programme that took the humanity out of Human Services. It is an opportunity for us to put forward to the people of Fadden the Labor agenda and what we’re doing as a government. It’s unlikely, of course, that we’d win a seat that we’ve never, ever held – that part of the northern Gold Coast. We held Fadden at the beginning of the Hawke Government, but it was a different seat, it was more up in the Logan area than where the boundaries are now. But in Letitia as well, she’s a nurse educator, so if you think about Labor’s traditional strength of health and education, Letitia personifies that. She teaches at Griffith University, she’s a nurse who has gone into teaching other nurses at the university, assisting with their degree. So combining that, education and health, she’s a fantastic candidate and she’s very passionate about her local community. And I was very proud to launch her campaign last night which was before a couple of hundred people, I was quite heartened by how many people turned up at the campaign launch.
CUMMING: Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton says voters in the upcoming Fadden byelection will be out to send the government a message on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Peter Dutton’s framed next month’s electoral contest as a proxy vote on the Voice referendum. What’s your response to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that is once again, Peter Dutton seeking to divide. The Voice should be a moment of national unity, it’s about two things and two things only. It’s about recognition of Indigenous Australians in our nation’s founding document, our Constitution, and it’s about consulting Indigenous Australians through a Voice on matters that affect them. And if you compare his views with the views of people, including the person that he appointed as his Attorney-General, his legal expert and his Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Julian Leeser. I think that Peter Dutton continues to be a divisive figure, I will continue to be positive. Positive about the need to have constitutional recognition, but also positive about the other agendas. Dealing with climate change, dealing with cost of living pressures, dealing with providing opportunity for young Australians to get good, secure work, opportunity for gender equality and for advancing the economic position of women – and will continue to run that positive agenda. Part of that positive agenda is not leaving people behind and that means recognition for Indigenous Australians and trying to close the gap. And we know that for 122 years, with the best of intentions, we haven’t been successful. There’s still an eight year life expectancy gap, there’s more chance of a young Indigenous male going to jail than going to university. We do need to do better and listening to Indigenous Australians about matters that affect them is part of that step.
CUMMING: Prime Minister, one of the really big issues here on the Gold Coast is transport. We’re a rapidly growing city, congestion is a growing problem, we desperately need better public transport options. The federal government’s announced a review of major transport projects across the country. Does this mean light rail stage four from Burleigh to the Gold Coast Airport is at risk?
PRIME MINISTER: No, what it means is that the position we inherited was 800 projects on the drawing board. There aren’t 800 nation building projects, infrastructure projects, in this country. What we’d seen was from the former government, like in other areas, a priority based upon politics rather than based upon national need. Now the Gold Coast light rail project of course, stage one was funded when I was the Minister. We put $365 million into that project. The most significant infrastructure investment for any light rail project from a Commonwealth Government in Australian history went to the Gold Coast. Just like the largest investment in community infrastructure was our $37 million for the upgrade of the stadium there that made such a difference, and that the Suns now get to play at that as their home game, but served the region on the Commonwealth Games and beyond, of course. So we’re a government that will follow in that tradition of doing things based upon need not based upon politics. Gold Coast light rail has been incredibly successful, and I travelled with Letitia Del Fabbro up to her electorate from the main part of the Gold Coast there just last night, and I’ve travelled on that light rail project before of course. The LNP opposed Gold Coast’s light rail, they opposed the whole thing from the beginning – state and federal. It was a good thing, it made an enormous difference during the Commonwealth Games, and it’s been a big success. 70 million different journeys have been taken on Gold Coast light rail, so we’re we will examine stage four, of course, going forward through appropriate processes, and we’ll work with the Queensland Government on that. I know it’s an issue that was certainly raised by businesses and particularly the tourism sector when I met with them, including the Mayor Tom Tate yesterday afternoon.
CUMMING: So will you ensure the project gets the necessary funding to go ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ll make announcements based upon proper assessments. Those assessments and the business case are being done. And what we’ll do is have proper processes, not a colour-coded spreadsheet. And I think my performance as Infrastructure Minister shows that that is the way to do things, whether it be for light rail projects like that or the upgrades that we put in on the M1 whilst I was the Minister.
CUMMING: Prime Minister, there is a darkening mood about the economy. Persistently high inflation despite twelve consecutive interest rate rises. Economists today warning there’s a 50-50 chance of a recession this year. Can the government be doing more to help people struggling with the cost of living? We know power prices going up in July, here on the Gold Coast people really struggling to find a home to live in, record low vacancy rates. Can the government be doing more to help?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’re doing what we can, including our $3 billion plan together with state and territory governments for power price relief that the LNP voted against last December. We are making a difference and together with the Queensland Government’s budget will mean that for some pensioners and low income earners they won’t pay for energy in the coming year – it’s going to make an extraordinary difference. We brought in cheaper medicines on January 1, the price went from $42.50 down to $30. We have 60 day dispensing that will halve the costs of medicines for people who require them regularly for a range of medicines going forward as well. We brought in 480,000, fee free TAFE places so that people can go to TAFE and get the skills they need, without paying any fees. We of course, most importantly to put downward pressure on inflation, we’ve turned a $78 billion deficit, that the LNP in their last budget just a little bit over a year ago said would happen this year, our budget will produce a surplus in excess of the $4.2 billion that we anticipated. Now, that will make an enormous difference as well. That’s about putting downward pressure on inflation. And on July 1, in a week’s time, we’ll have to pay for childcare as well that will assist families.
CUMMING: And you know, the budget helped along with thanks to strong commodity prices, as well as super tight jobs market, so you’re getting you know, the help there with the budget surplus –
PRIME MINISTER: We could have, of course, done what the former government did, where inflation, the highest inflation rate this century has been in that quarter of March 2022 when the LNP were in government. And their response to that high inflation that occurred that quarter was to splash more money around one off payments that put fuel on the fire of inflation and certainly didn’t assist going forward – that was their response. What we’ve done is to bank revenue gains but also have responsible policy to make sure the savings are there. Overwhelmingly, commodity prices have contributed just 20 something percent of the revenue games for the budget.
CUMMING: Prime Minister, I want to ask you about gambling because the federal government is today being urged to ban gambling advertising during sporting events within three years as the nation grapples with a crisis threatening the financial and mental health of many Australians. A Parliamentary Committee is recommending banning all gambling ads during sporting events. Will you act on this?
PRIME MINISTER: What we’ll do is give consideration to the recommendations. We certainly, I’m of the view, I’ve said before that the idea you’re watching a footy game and on comes in the middle of the game, on comes an ad for gambling, I find pretty reprehensible. So we need to be, we’ve already done measures already in terms of some online measures that we’ve taken. We’ve changed the warnings that have to be placed on this, but we need a comprehensive plan as well. We need to deal with online issues, we need to deal with social media issues, we need to deal with it comprehensively across the board, and that’s what the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland wants to respond with. It’s no good doing just one portion of reform that then just opens up and channels it somewhere else. We want, we need to have a comprehensive plan and that’s what my government is working through.
CUMMING: You met with tourism leaders on the Gold Coast yesterday, one of the big issues for local businesses is staffing, it’s incredibly hard to find workers at the moment. International students are a really big part of the Hospitality and Tourism workforce here on the Coast. Businesses have continually raised concerns with us about this reintroduction of a cap on the number of hours international students can work. Why reintroduce this cap when it’s already so difficult to find staff?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in your question you give the answer really, which is they are international students, they’re not international workers. So people who have a student visa need to be studying, that’s why they’re here. Now there was previously a limit of 20 hours per week, and then only just during the COVID pandemic as an emergency measure that was lifted. What we had was a committee establish the best way to go forward, of experts, and we’ve adopted their recommendations. Which are, with exceptions for industries like aged care where there are acute shortages, where the unlimited hours will be maintained. The right amount of hours they came up with and that we’ve adopted is 24 hours. Now, when you think about that, if you’re a full time international student here on that visa, then 24 hours is a substantial amount of work on top of your full time studying that you’re doing. And I did meet with the sector yesterday, one of the things that we did talk about was a whole range of experience and the way that we can deal with some of the workforce shortages. There’s a range of measures that we are putting in place, but the good thing that we have done, of course, is to see students return to Australia and the measures that we have, particularly as well, the measures from the UK, for example, people will be able to come here on work visas now for three years, which will make an enormous difference for young people travelling here as part of the free trade agreement that we put in place and signed just a month ago.
CUMMING: Prime Minister on a much lighter note, we know you’re a Swifty, a Taylor Swift fan.
PRIME MINISTER: Apparently that’s a thing.
CUMMING: It’s a thing, it is. And I was surprised to hear that you won’t be jumping online with the masses today to try and secure tickets to Taylor Swift, to her concerts here.
PRIME MINISTER: I am hoping to be able to get there, we’ll see. With my diary as well, the idea that I can tell you what I’ll be doing next February is a triumph of hope over experience, I’ve got to say. My diary unfortunately tends to be from week to week. But I certainly would like to see her, I am a fan. I really got into the Folklore and Evermore albums, and then went back into the back catalogue as you can these days. And the album last year, of course, was fantastic as well, Midnights is just full of hits. And I think she’s a great songwriter, and I have, for some of my colleagues of my generation and friends, I have had this debate with them and tried to say to them, go back and have a look at the lyrics, they’re every bit as good as you know, a Carole King or a Joni Mitchell has written, and I think she’s an extraordinary talent. And quite clearly as well, I think that she’s a really good role model as a strong young woman who speaks about, she’s a great feminist basically. ‘Shake It Off’ is a feminist anthem.
CUMMING: Yes, and look, she’s incredibly popular, isn’t she? I’m sure that the internet may break today with everyone trying to jump on and secure a ticket.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m sure it will. I wish my diary allowed me to sit on sit on a phone for a few hours trying to get a ticket. But this is my second interview today, and I have a very full diary as I do every day, which is a good thing.
CUMMING: True. Before we let you go, we know you’re a passionate Bunnies supporter in the NRL so it would probably be hard for us to convince you to go for the Gold Coast Titans, but what about an AFL team? Can we convince you to support the Gold Coast Suns?
PRIME MINISTER: When I was up there doing the stadium of course, my son got a Sun’s shirt signed by the great Gary Ablett Jr. And so for a while there he was a Sun’s supporter as a very young boy, and he used to wear the shirt around signed by Gary Ablett. He then, he was a bit fickle, he changed teams later on, but you can have that for a while the Gold Coast Suns had a big presence in our household at Marrickville there.
CUMMING: Okay, we’ve got to get the Albaneses back on board.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah well, I certainly hope they have a success, and the Titans had a very good win over the Broncos on the weekend.
CUMMING: They certainly did, top of the table. That was a wonderful win for the Titans.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, with all the coaching chaos that’s been going on it seems to have enthused them, that happens from time to time. It’s a strange game, rugby league. I just hope the Bunnies have a win against the Warriors on Friday night.
CUMMING: Not quite as strange as politics though, I’m sure. Prime Minister, thank you so much for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to chat with you.