Radio interview – ABC Radio Melbourne
ALI MOORE, HOST: Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Ali.
MOORE: A shock to you and a shock to everyone.
PRIME MINISTER: It certainly was. I was with Simon there in Melbourne just a month ago and he was full of beans and enthusiasm as he always was. He was enthusiastic about the Government, and I had a chat with him about it, sought his advice as I did as someone who was an elder statesperson of the Party. He’s someone who was respected right across the political spectrum because he was a very honourable man. He’s someone who always served the national interest. But he particularly, of course, had a career of standing up for the rights of working people, whether in the trade union movement, or that commitment that he brought into the Federal Parliament.
MOORE: You just said then full of beans. Do you have any understanding of what happened?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ll leave the details of those arrangements to the family, but certainly it wasn’t expected. He was engaged in some physical activity to keep fit as he did his whole life. He was a walker, he was a tennis player, he was someone who was really full of life and enthusiasm, which is why this came as such a shock, I’ve got to say. When I was travelling here to Canberra I just found it incomprehensible that he’s been taken so young and far too soon.
MOORE: What was the best piece of advice that he gave you?
PRIME MINISTER: Be patient, don’t be put off by the day-to-day concerns which you get as Leader of the opposition in particular, but also as Prime Minister – keep your eye on the main game, which is making reform in the medium and long term. You’ll have good days and bad days in jobs like this. Simon was always focused, whether as Trade Minister on getting the big deals done, whether as Arts Minister in revitalising the arts, as Employment Minister on getting people into work, in regional economic development, he was absolutely committed towards assisting people in the agriculture sector, but also in our regional towns. And he was always focused on those issues, he was a man of principle. During the Iraq War, he made the courageous decision as leader not just to oppose the war, which I think history vindicated over the issue of the weapons of mass destruction, which we know now from history were not there. He made sure that he went down and spoke to the Australian Defence Force personnel who were being deployed, and to give them support for following the decisions of the Government. It was a really principled and honourable stance that he took whilst at the same time, of course, just showing that respect to the men and women who serve us in uniform.
MOORE: Principled and honourable and just a great bloke are the sorts of descriptions that we’re hearing this morning. But in actual fact, he had a very short-lived stint as leader, didn’t he? I mean, he served as Minister, many different ministerial positions over four different governments. But in 2003, he became the only Labor leader since Billy Hughes to be denied his chance to take his Party to an election.
PRIME MINISTER: He did, he stood aside and in the ballot that occurred there the Caucus, in my view, made the wrong decision to make Mark Latham the leader, and we know where Mark Latham has ended up. But Simon again there put what he saw is that the Party’s interests first as he always did and he did have the great honour of serving as leader of the Party that he loved and served. Of course, he was very proud of his father who served of course in in the Whitlam Government
MOORE: Frank Crean.
PRIME MINISTER: Frank Crean. His brother David was Treasurer in the Tasmanian Government. This is an extraordinary family and contribution that Simon will also be remembered, of course, as a great family man. He’s survived by Carole, his beloved wife and two daughters. He and Carole were just so close, it was wonderful to see their relationship up close. I visited their home and I saw them together, of course, particularly during the period in which he was leader. Carole was such a great support, and it will be just so devastating for her today.
MOORE: You actually had, well, you had a part to play in his political story, didn’t you? Because if memory serves me correctly, back in 2013 when Kevin Rudd returned as Prime Minister, you became Deputy Leader but Simon Crean actually put his hand up for that position.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s right, we had a ballot in the Labor Caucus that day. I think neither Simon nor myself had time to canvass support in that ballot. But Simon accepted the outcome, he congratulated me on it, and he wasn’t someone who looked backwards – he always looked forward. And he was extremely supportive of me from the day that I became Labor leader in 2019. Always offering a word of advice when I asked for one, and showing the wisdom that experience brings you. And Simon was an extraordinarily experienced servant of the labour movement, rising through the unions to become president of the ACTU, and then serving as a cabinet minister in for governments is a remarkable career. And after he finished his parliamentary career, continuing to serve Australia through being the chair of the European-Australian Business Council, and through continuing to promote Australian businesses and Australian jobs.
MOORE: Experience he certainly had in spades. Anthony Albanese, if I can just turn to some other matters this morning. Do you have any clarity on what just happened in Russia and whether President Putin is significantly damaged?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there’s no doubt that he’s been damaged because the image of a country all united behind Mr Putin is quite clearly not the case. I received three different briefings over the weekend as events move very quickly. It’s clear that not only has the illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine hurt, primarily, of course, the Ukrainian people with this attack on their democracy and their sovereignty. It’s also hurt Russia, who’s lost thousands of their troops and defence personnel. You’ve had this, what’s essentially a private army of the Wagner Group engaged as well. And it’s clear that there is considerable dissent now within Russia. Now that’s tempered by the control that’s there in the media, but this will be a real shake up to the internal dynamics of Russia. The best thing that Mr Putin can do is to withdraw from this illegal invasion, respect international law, respect the sovereignty of Ukraine. And the world will continue to back Ukraine in its struggle.
MOORE: And what do the briefings tell you about what’s likely to happen next and whether or not the boss of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin is going to stay quiet, he doesn’t seem a man who’s, you know, tendencies towards quietness?
PRIME MINISTER: That that’s correct, Ali. But it is also the case, you can’t have an event where you have this march on Moscow that was declared and then pretend that hasn’t happened. This will create tension on an ongoing basis and we will continue to monitor events there in Russia, but will also continue to provide support for President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine in this struggle.
MOORE: A couple of questions on the Voice. What do you make of the latest Newspoll that’s out this morning and says a vote would fail if it was held next weekend. I know, of course, it’s not going to be held next weekend and the only poll that counts is the one on the day. But can you afford to ignore the trend in the polls?
PRIME MINISTER: This is potential to have a unifying moment for our country. This is a once in a generation chance that we will give Australians in the last quarter of this year to vote for constitutional recognition. And I firmly believe that when Australians look at the proposition which is there, they will focus when the campaign is actually declared and the date set. And they’ll focus on the opportunity that’s there to recognise First Nations people, but also to listen to them and consult them on matters that affect them.
MOORE: So what will be the date? Because of course, the clock’s ticking. I can’t believe you don’t actually know the date in your own head. What is that date going to be?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it will be between October and December, I’ve made that clear from last year.
MOORE: Can we narrow it down at all?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m not about to make a declaration on your program, Ali, this morning. We will consult with Indigenous Australians, but we’ll also consult, of course, with the Australian Electoral Commission – there’s a range of dates that you’ve got to have it. It can’t be before the end of September, but it won’t be on AFL Grand Final day, so we’ll look at the dates, and when it fits. It won’t be on a long weekend, it will be at a time that is appropriate, and there’ll be lots of notice given of when it is. Just as we have said from last year, we said the legislation would be introduced in March and it was. We said there would be a committee and it would report in May, and it did. We said it would go to the Senate in June, and it did. Now we know that we have to wait two months and thirty three days at least since to hold the referendum, and every Australian will get the opportunity to vote.
MOORE: And now that that legislation has passed, and I’m not sure whether you read the piece this morning in the papers by George Williams, who’s the very well-known and esteemed constitutional lawyer. But he says that now that legislation is through, a set piece of this process is the official pamphlet. And he makes the point that not only is that very old school, we knew that, but that the Electoral Commission is not authorised to check the material provided by parliamentarians for that pamphlet. So every household is going to get a pamphlet, and yet the Yes and the No cases in that pamphlet does not have to be accurate, or do not have to be accurate.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s correct, and we were concerned about that very process, which is there. The process is that those parliamentarian who voted yes will authorise the Yes wording which is in the pamphlet. Those Australians who voted No will authorise the No wording that’s in the pamphlet. It’s one of the reasons why there was some scepticism about the value of the pamphlet going forward. But the Coalition, it’s just one of the concessions that we made to people who said that –
MOORE: What’s the advice to people? We’re all going to get it in our mailbox. Do we read it? Do we ignore it?
PRIME MINISTER: I think people should read it, but they should bear in mind the advice that Mr Williams said. But they should also look at themselves, the wording is very, very clear. The wording simply says recognition, then there’s three clauses. The first is there shall be a Voice, the second is the Voice may give advice, so it’s just advice to the parliament and executive government on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the third is important, is the primacy of the parliament stays. The Parliament through legislation will determine the functions and the structures of the Voice. But it won’t have a right of veto, but it will be an opportunity to consult and to get that advice. And what we know is that you get better outcomes where you involve people.
MOORE: Anthony Albanese, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Ali.