ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Welcome to Bayswater. We're here in the seat of Aston that's been neglected by its local member for a long period of time. And I'm here to say no more, because Mary Doyle is going to make a fantastic Member of Parliament representing Aston. Now, no government has won a seat off an opposition in a by-election for 100 years. But Mary Doyle can make history because Mary Doyle has what it takes. The fact that she received such an enormous swing in the election last May, is backed up by the fact that she's been preselected unopposed to re-contest the seat on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. Now, we don't know when the by-election will be yet because Alan Tudge, having announced his resignation from Parliament last Thursday, hasn't actually got around to resigning. So the date hasn't yet been called. But we're ready. While the Liberal Party engage in the internal fights that represents the chaos that is the Liberal Party here in Victoria, we're getting on with the task, with selecting our candidate who's been endorsed unanimously to contest this seat on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. And what a candidate. Mary was born in Echuca, but then moved as a very young woman here to the outer-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, where she has lived ever since that time. Mary has worked as a trade unionist, but also has worked where she currently does in the finance sector. Mary is someone who also knows how the world can be a difficult place. She knows, through her personal struggles, why our health system is important. At the age of just 25, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo treatment. She knows how important universal Medicare is. What we provide, as the party of Medicare, is ongoing support for that system that was undermined during the previous decade. What we've seen from the Opposition under Peter Dutton - a fellow who might not spend much time here in Melbourne, because a little while ago he said it wasn't safe to go out in Melbourne - someone who during the difficult issues of the pandemic, just spent all of his time attacking Victorians for the efforts that they were making to keep each other safe. Now we have major pressures on people, we understand that, through cost of living. And in the Federal Parliament, what do we have from Peter Dutton and the Liberals? We had them opposing our relief plan for energy. We had them opposing our plan for more social and affordable housing, including 4,000 homes for women and children escaping domestic violence and increased homes for veterans. What we actually had this week was them voting against that. We have them voting against manufacturing jobs. We have our National Reconstruction Fund that we have a mandate for at the election. We want to make more things here in Australia. Just one example here in Victoria, you have a State Government that is committed to making trains and making things here, but a former federal government that had been working in the opposite direction. We have a Federal Opposition that didn't get the message last May. They are still opposed to any action on climate change. They want the climate wars to continue. And we have legislation before the Parliament that's supported by industry, that's supported by business: the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, supported by all the manufacturers. They want certainty through the safeguard mechanism that was established originally by Tony Abbott's government. But here we have the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton that's actually more conservative and more right-wing than Tony Abbott's government was. What we have is an Opposition that, frankly, are just not fit to be an alternative government because they haven't put forward any alternative policies. What they do is just say 'no'. Mary Doyle will be a positive contributor to the government. As a member of the government, she'll sit on the government benches and be able to make a difference for the people of Aston. I'm very proud and pleased that Mary agreed to run again. It's a big sacrifice, to run in a federal campaign. To run twice in such a short period of time of under a year is an enormous personal sacrifice. But Mary's absolutely committed to making a difference. She doesn't want to do this for herself. She wants to do this for her kids as a single mum. She wants to do this for the people of Aston and I very much welcome Mary here. And I've asked her to say a few words as our candidate for Aston.
MARY DOYLE, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR ASTON: Thank you, Anthony. So early last year, I decided to stand up for the people of Aston. I believe the people in Bayswater, Rowville and Ferntree Gully needed a government that understood the challenges faced by us out here in the outer-Eastern suburbs. And I wanted to make a real difference. The Albanese Government has hit the ground running in delivering cheaper medicines, cheaper child care and fee-free TAFE, just to name a few. And I wanted to be part of the solutions for the people of Aston. Back last year when I was campaigning, I spoke to a lot of different people, and some people who voted Liberals most of their lives. And you know what? They told me that voting they'd be voting Labor because they were worried about the cost of living. They cared about improving the situation with aged care, and they cared about secure jobs for their kids and their grandkids. And now with the Liberals under Peter Dutton's leadership, those same same people are telling me that they're not happy with the negative, always saying no attitude of the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton. I'm here with the PM to offer them something better. And look, it's no secret that I'm not a seasoned politician. I grew up in housing commission, much like Anthony Albanese, and I'm the youngest of nine kids to a mum who's now in aged care. I have two kids myself, and I care for another. I've been a call centre worker. I've been a checkout operator. I've been a cleaner. I've been a singer in a band. And I've helped working families much of my working life. Basically, I'm a suburban mum. I work full-time. I have a mortgage on a three-bedroom weatherboard house, it needs some repairs. I know it's tough out here for people in the outer-Eastern suburbs. And I promise to work every single day to make sure the voices of people are heard loud and clear through this by-election and beyond. And I'm proud to stand here today as the Labor candidate here in Aston. And I promise every single day to work so hard to give the people of this area a real choice to Peter Dutton and the Liberals who voted against Australian manufacturing, who voted against secure jobs, who voted against action on climate change, who voted against lower power bills, or me, and the Albanese Government who will provide the people of Aston with a better future.
JOURNALIST: When will the wording of the Constitutional change be released?
PRIME MINISTER: I released the draft wording at Garma in July. The working groups, the Referendum Working Group, are working through that as well as we have a Constitutional group made up of a former High Court judge and others working through those issues. It has to go through legislation. So it will be up to the Parliament what the wording is. We'll be introducing that legislation next month, in March. There will then be a committee of the Parliament who will examine that on a bipartisan basis. And then the legislation will be debated in the May-June sessions of Parliament. And then once it's passed, it has to stay there between two months and 33 days and six months is when the referendum can occur. So there is a well set out process for this to occur.
JOURNALIST: Will funding cuts to major road projects in the local area be a major talking point in this by-election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the performance of the former Member, Alan Tudge, says all about how how fake the former government was. Alan Tudge committed to spending $50 million to upgrade Napoleon Road but the costing was more than $220 million more than he offered. He committed to the Dorset Road extension, which would have needed more than $120 million more than they proposed to spend. But the Wellington Road Duplication, where they offered $110 million would have needed six times more, $640 million, to actually deliver it. So these were just fake promises done at an election. Perhaps Alan Tudge knew that he wouldn't be around to be held to account for this. But I'm a former Infrastructure Minister. I know that to build a road or a railway line, you actually need the dollars attached to it. And that's why when we've funded road projects, like we did when I was the Minister here in Melbourne, or whether it was rail projects, like the future Suburban Rail Loop that will make such an enormous difference to Melbourne, you've actually got to put funding into it.
JOURNALIST: One expert lawyer advising the Referendum Working Group has suggested reviewing the wording 'executive government'. What do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll work those issues through and it will be up to the Parliament what the wording is. We set up this group so that we'd get the best legal advice possible.
JOURNALIST: Will Mary receive more funding for this campaign than she did last year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Mary did a pretty extraordinary job with a budget from the central campaign, which was not enormous, it is true. Imagine how well she'll go with the sort of support that she will receive. But already, you see behind us, the best support that Mary can get isn't the dollars, it's the people that will make a difference in this campaign. And the people of Aston have an opportunity, the volunteers, to make a difference here. Mary will run a very strong campaign. She's a strong candidate, the odds are very much against her. But that hasn't deterred her from putting herself forward. And we'll give it a crack. At the moment, Mary Doyle is not only the best candidate for Aston, she's the only candidate for Aston.
JOURNALIST: What advice have you been given about how many Australians will struggle to pay their mortgages this year as interest rates (INAUDIBLE)?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we know that the interest rate rises that began under the Coalition Government are placing pressure on families. And Mary Doyle knows that, she's one of those families in the outer suburbs here who has a mortgage. And we know that that is placing pressure. There's inflation right around the world. And right around the world, central banks are increasing interest rates, whether it's in Europe, the United States, across the ditch, in New Zealand, or here in Australia and that's placing pressure on. But our task is to make a difference as a Federal Government. Now we introduced cheaper medicines from January 1, making a real difference to families, a $12.50 decrease in the price of medicines. Someone said to me the other day, it's the first time they can ever remember the price of something going down, not up. And that's making a big difference. We had our energy relief plan that the Coalition voted against, that's directly aimed at making a difference for families. On July 1 our cheaper childcare plan has been opposed again by the Coalition and by Peter Dutton. So we are trying to make a difference through relief. But we're also making a difference through our recovery plans, things to deal with supply chain shortages. So fee-free TAFE is making a difference. A National Reconstruction Fund supporting manufacturing will make a difference. But we're also showing restraint as well, which is why in the budget in October 99 per cent of the revenue gains we put straight back into paying off debt. We inherited a trillion dollars of debt from the Liberal government with not much to show for it. And so that's why we will continue to be responsible in how we deal with the budget.