Radio Interview – Triple M 93.1 Bundy
ELLERINA MCPHERSON, HOST: We’ve had a lot of grand guests on. But I’m very excited for this one in particular, we did mention today. He’s got a lot of nicknames.
JOE BAXTER, HOST: Maybe use his real name.
MCPHERSON: You may know him as Mr Albanese. You may know him as Anth the man. You may know him as lemon squeezy. Or you may know him as the Prime Minister. Mr Anthony Albanese, good morning.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Wonderful to be with you, I think.
BAXTER: Always good to start with an apology straight up. I will be calling you Prime Minister for the duration of the interview.
PRIME MINISTER: We are pretty relaxed, us Australians.
BAXTER: Yeah, that’s right. We do actually have a lot to chat to you about. The first thing being, I guess you are in Bundy as we speak. What are you doing in Bundy this morning?
PRIME MINISTER: I am. I’ll be opening the new super brewery in Bundaberg. Of course, there is nothing more Australian than a Bundaberg Ginger Beer. And they’ve put more than $150 million into the new construction of a super brewery there to produce those wonderful soft drinks and to have manufacturing here in this region continued. There’s some 600 ongoing jobs as a result. A big bonus for the region. There were 850 jobs in the construction phase. And it’s all opening up at 9am this morning, which will be a fantastic way of celebrating jobs in Australian manufacturing, particularly in the regions. And great Queensland product that is, of course, sent right around the world. And that’s the main reason for my visit. But also, we are announcing the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic at Walkervale.
MCPHERSON: It is actually incredible. I know that you did have the election promise to have 50 of these clinics up and running over the country by the end of the year. I think you guys are up to the high 30s now and incredible that this will be opening up here in Bundy at the end of November. Can you tell us how this will impact our region?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it will be just a huge bonus. We know that more than 40 per cent of presentations at the Bundaberg Hospital are for non urgent or semi urgent care. So little Johnny falls off a skateboard or little Susie falls off her bike or mum or dad cut their finger, you know, cutting onions for the barbecue. And they end up at the emergency department. And that creates pressure on the whole health system. This is a part of our taking pressure off the health system by supporting Medicare. So, an intermediate between the local GP and the hospital, essentially. A place where people can go get fixed up quickly. All they need is their Medicare card if you’ve got a broken bone or a cart or something like that, a sprain, a fracture, get fixed up in urgent time without waiting for more urgent cases to bump you down the queue. And it’s been incredibly successful right around the country. We promised 50. We will have 58 up and running, including 11 here in Queensland, primarily in the regions. One just up the road at Rocky, one at Cairns, one at Toowoomba, right around the state. And it just a big, big bonus for people who need that care. And from tomorrow, the tripling of the bulk billing incentive for Medicare, aiming at making sure that people can get to see a doctor as well, a local GP, that will make an enormous difference. A tripling of the bulk billing incentive is the largest ever injection to support Medicare. Because we know we want to support primary healthcare, in part to take pressure off the hospital system. If people get that care early, a little problem doesn’t become an acute problem. And that ends up saving money for the taxpayer as well. So, it’s a common sense approach where we’re working with the Queensland Government to achieve these outcomes.
MCPHERSON: It’s great because I think like a lot of people at the moment just don’t bother going to the doctors if they’re unwell because it’s just like another added cost that they can’t justify.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s right. And they can’t afford it or they can’t get in. But the cost can be a real problem. Because in the end, if you don’t see a doctor early on, then problems get worse, they don’t get better by themselves. And so, we want to encourage that to occur. At the same time, of course, we’ve had our cheaper pharmaceuticals have saved well over $100 million already. We reduced the cost from $42.50 down to $30 in January. And then from last month, we introduced the 60-day dispensing rather than 30 days, therefore, literally halving the costs of people who need those regular medicines, and halving as well the number of trips to the doctor to get a script. So, making an enormous difference. So, we’re working through all of these issues to make sure that we strengthen Medicare, because that is the centre of our health system. That’s literally the beating heart of our health system.
MCPHERSON: And that will be up and running by the end of November. So, that is incredible. Thank you so much. I do need to ask you one thing. You are a mad Bunnies fan, I hear.
PRIME MINISTER: I am, indeed. I was a board member last century. Seems like a long time ago now. We had a pretty ordinary team while I was on the board, I’ve got to say. We got kicked out of the comp but we fought our way back.
MCPHERSON: There has been a bit of a coaching fiasco at the end of this season with Sam Burgess leaving early. Did you have to call Russell Crowe to see if he’s all good in the borough?
PRIME MINISTER: Rusty’s good. Russ is around at the moment actually in Australia. Quite often, he’s overseas doing various film projects. And I got to see him. He was in Canberra, so I caught up with him recently with his band. He played at one of the Canberra theatres. They were terrific actually. It was a really good night. Russell’s a very passionate Rabbitohs supporter. And no one more passionate. And so is Sammy. His heart is always red and green. I spoke to him before he headed overseas with his new family, taking up a coaching job over there in the Super League. But I’m sure he’ll be back and playing a role with Souths at some time in the future.
BAXTER: Love it. Well, when you said Rusty’s around, you could see both El and I go, ‘Is he with Albo?’ We were going to jump over.
PRIME MINISTER: He’s down near Coffs.
BAXTER: That’s a little bit further away.
MCPHERSON: Would you feature in a Souths film with Rusty? Like, you could play Wayne Bennett during their premiership win?
PRIME MINISTER: No one can play Wayne.
BAXTER: Correct response, I think.
PRIME MINISTER: He’s been a great success at the Dolphins. He is just a phenomenon. He just keeps on keeping on. I noticed that Peter V’landys was suggesting that he could coach a new team in Papua New Guinea. I don’t know how long Wayne’s going to go for but I had the privilege of seeing him talk to the lads in the sheds after games and he is just a great leader and an amazing coach and a terrific bloke. A very proud Queenslander, of course.
BAXTER: Now, I don’t know, El, if you want to take the chat down this road because…
MCPHERSON: Is it where I think you’re going?
BAXTER: Well it could be. Obviously, I’m having a lovely time chatting with you, Mr Albanese. And I just know that my co-host does have something she wants to ask you.
MCPHERSON: I do.
BAXTER: And whether she is going to do that. So, if you have another minute of your time, we’d love to ask you one question if that’s okay.
PRIME MINISTER: Here it comes.
BAXTER: Mr Albanese.
PRIME MINISTER: There is a build-up. It better be a good one.
BAXTER: It’s not hard politics. You’ll be okay. It is not Question Time.
MCPHERSON: I am not sure if you ever saw this, but you know the incredible Aussie band Sheppard?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
MCPHERSON: They have a lot of really cool merch. And I had got like a jacket from them. And I was going around seeing if certain people had seen my jacket. Now, in June last year, Mr Albanese, I called your office to talk to you. But you were overseas at the time and I don’t even know why I tried because I actually knew that, but I just forgot at that split second and I was like, ‘Yep, no, you’re right. Would you mind passing a message on to him for me?’ And the lady was lovely, beautiful. And she was like, ‘Absolutely. Does he know who you are?’ And I said, ‘Yep’.
BAXTER: Confidently.
MCPHERSON: He does, and he’ll know what you’re talking about when you say have you seen Elerrina’s new jacket? The question on everyone’s lips at the moment is did you get that message?
PRIME MINISTER: I got nothing.
MCPHERSON: Can we have a look at rehiring?
PRIME MINISTER: I am pro jobs and pro workers. Do you want me to sack someone when some random rings up, pretends they know me, pretends I should know about a jacket? This is worse than WorkChoices.
BAXTER: This is way better than I hoped your answer would be.
MCPHERSON: Well, I did tag you in the video. So, if you are curious about the jacket, you can go and see it.
PRIME MINISTER: I will check it out.
MCPHERSON: Amazing. Well, all the best with the opening of Bundy brewed drinks today. We’re so happy that you are down here for that iconic moment. And enjoy your time while you are here, Mr Albanese.
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed Thanks for the chat. It’s always good here. People are really friendly and warm. And it was great. This morning I had a chat to a lot of locals and even had had a beer at the pub last night. Caught up with Keith Pitt last night too, came along. A bit of cross party liaison. It was good to catch up with him as the local member. And it’s just a beautiful part of the world and such a productive one as well.
BAXTER: I mean, we would love to see you down here as often as we can, really. So, thank you for stopping in this morning. And thank you for having a chat with us. I never thought I’d say the words, but Prime Minister Albanese, thank you so much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, guys