Radio interview – Triple M Perth breakfast with Xav & Michelle
XAVIER ELLIS, HOST: Mr Albanese, welcome to Triple M Perth.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: What a lovely welcome Xav and Michelle, that was great.
ELLIS: Now mate, you’re not gonna let the cat out of the bag, you didn’t fly over to help look for the radioactive ten-cent piece that was missing, did you?
PRIME MINISTER: All I can say is, I arrived and they found it.
MICHELLE ANDERSON, HOST: Ah, very good point.
PRIME MINISTER: Just saying, just putting it out there.
ELLIS: How dare they say you’re a part-time Prime Minister mate, you’re looking for ten-cent pieces.
PRIME MINISTER: How good was it that they found it? Shouldn’t have lost it in the first place of course, but quite extraordinary that they found something that was smaller than a ten-cent piece on, I think it was a 1,400 kilometre search zone. It dropped off pretty early in the in the journey, clearly, just south of Newman there but it’s great that it was found. I got a heads up when it was found by the agencies and they were very excited, as they should have been, and congrats to everyone involved in the search party.
ELLIS: Now I don’t personally own anything expensive or radioactive about ten-cent piece, probably my wife’s engagement ring would be the most expensive small thing. Now, I’m not just chucking that in the boot of the car and letting that rattle around. I’m putting it probably in the glove box or something. I think next time we just sit it in the passenger seat.
PRIME MINISTER: Hopefully it’s on her ring finger!
ELLIS: Oh we’re going through some tough times, Albo. I’m taking it to the pawn collectors today.
ANDERSON: I was going to say, you watch, she might be taking him to the pawn collectors.
PRIME MINISTER: That’ll be a sign if she does, I’ll give you the big tip.
ANDERSON: Xav was just mentioning before the Magnum and the beer at the tennis and all that sort of stuff. Do you ever get to a point where, because you know, obviously you’re in the public eye, you’re critiqued. Have you ever just dreamt of going, oh get stuffed everyone, come on, give me a break?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, probably the most diplomatic thing I can say to that is I won’t comment.
ELLIS: Out of interest, what is your favourite type of ice cream?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh gee, I don’t have ice cream very often these days, as you know, I’ve tried to get match fit.
ELLIS: You have actually, yes.
PRIME MINISTER: For the campaign, so it was the first ice cream I’ve had for a very long period of time. I find the best way to make sure that you eat healthily is to make sure that there isn’t chocolate ice cream and things that are perhaps off the list in the home.
ANDERSON: You’re on it.
PRIME MINISTER: In this case, the Lodge, that’s the best way to do it.
ANDERSON: Yeah, all you do is keep grazing, yeah, I know. So no special, no favourite ice cream, anything like that? What is your lash out food?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t mind a Drumstick, I gotta say. I don’t mind a Drumstick. They’re pretty good.
ELLIS: I’ve got a two-year-old, I’ve got a couple of kids Albo, but I’ve got a two-year-old who likes a Drumstick. He literally just eats the nuts off the top and then passes it off to me, hence I’m about eight kilos overweight.
PRIME MINISTER: Well everyone’s a winner.
ELLIS: Absolutely. Hey mate, where are you flying off to this morning, we believe you’re heading to the airport?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m flying back to Canberra, and I have the National Cabinet, I’m hosting all the Premiers and Chief Ministers for dinner tonight. And I won’t be serving up ice cream for dessert. We’ll be having a healthy meal there at the Lodge and then we have a meeting tomorrow of the National Cabinet. This afternoon, I’ll be meeting with the Northern Territory Chief Minister, and also meeting with the Referendum Working Group on the referendum that we’ll hold to recognise Aboriginal people in our constitution. So I’ll be talking with them this afternoon.
ELLIS: Lovely mate, one on the Indigenous communities, my dad’s a barrister, mum’s a physio, they live in East Arnhem Land in the really, really remote parts of the country. Have you personally spent enough time in these remote communities? And do you think you do enough for these remote communities?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have spent a fair bit of time, I’ve been to the Northern Territory three times since I’ve been elected Prime Minister. And over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time in communities, as well as the Northern Territory, I’ve been to the Torres Strait and spent a couple of days there. I of course was, earlier this year, up at Fitzroy Crossing from that community that suffered from the floods there, being isolated, and in Broome as well. I get out and about as much as I can. And you know, I think I’ve certainly been to WA more than any previous Prime Minister in recent times. There’s no question about that, for example.
ANDERSON: Now also, with interest rates going up and the cost of living crisis that’s sort of coming at us, what’s the message to everyone? Because I mean, it’s a bit scary at the moment, especially if you’ve got…
ELLIS: I’m 34, Albo, and I’m shaking in me boots.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I recognise that that people are doing it tough. Right around the world, we have this massive inflation problem that governments are trying to get under control. And in some parts, it’s double-digit inflation. So Australia is not immune from the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to two things, higher energy prices globally, but also real pressure on supply chains throughout the world, and that puts inflationary pressure on. I’m very hopeful that the inflation rate has now peaked and will start to come down over this year, that’s the advice that we’ve received from Treasury, and that seems to be the advice of the Reserve Bank as well. And that should alleviate that, but in the meantime, we’re doing what we can. Cheaper pharmaceuticals started on January 1. There’s an old saying that everything goes up, nothing goes down, but something went down on January 1, from $42.50 to $30, a substantial reduction that will really help people. Cheaper childcare comes in on July 1, fee-free TAFE commences for 180,000 places this year. We’re looking at what measures we can put in place, whilst at the same time, trying to put that downward pressure on inflation, which is why we produced such a responsible Budget in October last year, and we have that in mind as well, with the Budget coming up in May.
ELLIS: Maybe a bit of a lay-up here for you, how have you enjoyed your first little stint as PM of the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh it’s just an incredible privilege. I think this is the greatest country on Earth. But I’m convinced that we’ll be even greater in the future, if we all work together, if we look for our common interest. We have enormous opportunities. Here in the West, you have benefited substantially from iron ore and the resources which are here. The good news is that the resources of the future that will grow in demand, like lithium, vanadium, and other resources are here as well. What we need to do is to make sure that we value-add, that we make more things here. I think that we can have cheaper, cleaner energy powering advanced manufacturing, we can develop a hydrogen industry that is the best in the world, there’s enormous opportunities. We need to make sure that we train up our young Australians, but also people retraining for the changing jobs of the future. But I’m really optimistic about this great country, and every day I’m proud to be in the position of Prime Minister and I will never, ever take it for granted.
ELLIS: Mate, we are a heavily-weighted sports station so it’d be remiss of me not to ask, your Bunnies, how do you see them featuring this season?
PRIME MINISTER: If you ask me in any January, February or March over the entire time I’ve been alive, I will tell you that we’re going to win the comp.
ELLIS: Alright, that’s it.
PRIME MINISTER: But I do think we will have a good year. We’ll have a very good year, I think Lachlan Ilias at half-back, the key position, he’ll be far better for the run last year.
ELLIS: That’s never a compliment, you’re better for the run.
PRIME MINISTER: No, his first year as a half-back, putting the team around the combination with Cody Walker, and Latrell Mitchell and Damian Cook, our spine as we call it, is fantastic. How are the Hawks gonna go mate?
ELLIS: Well, unlike you Albo I’m not so optimistic.
PRIME MINISTER: Rebuilding phase I think is what you call it.
ELLIS: Yeah rebuilding mate, so Sam Mitchell there, he’ll do a wonderful job, get the kids in, play the kids and they’ll be better for the run.
PRIME MINISTER: There you go, because I’m a Hawks fan too mate.
ELLIS: Good man.
ANDERSON: There’s a sports show between you two here, I think.
SHAAN SUBRA, PRODUCER: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time this morning. We’ll get you into the studio next time you’re out West.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much guys.