ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm delighted to be here with Jess Teesdale, our Labor candidate for Bass to launch her campaign. Along with local MPs and supporters, including, it's good that Michelle O'Byrne has joined us here today, and others have joined us in this beautiful spot overlooking this magnificent river in this great city of Launceston, in the electorate of Bass. Now Bass is a must win seat. It's a seat that has changed hands on a range of occasions, and on this occasion we think that we have a fantastic candidate in Jess Teesdale. She's someone who's a local teacher, she is a third generation at least here in this local community. She understands the needs of this community and the needs of Tasmania. And importantly will be a strong voice in government for Tasmania and for the people of Bass. Jess is someone who has spent her life, her working life, helping others through education, and there's nowhere better to be, of course, than the fact that the Labor Party is prioritising education. Just this week we announced our plan for three days guaranteed child care. We announced our plan for a billion dollars invested in child care centres, in places they currently don't have access to child care. We know that early learning is so important in the first five years of life, but we know also that when it comes to school, education is so important. We've concluded that we will bring everyone up to the resourcing standard here in Tasmania within two years after our election, something that was ignored by the former federal Coalition government. And of course, through our Universities Accord and our free TAFE, we want to make sure that people have access to education from the very earliest years right through life. And that's something that Jess Teesdale will be able to add to as a contributor as part of a Labor government in Canberra. So I'll make this point when it comes to support for Tasmania and what Tasmania needs, my Government is very proud that whether it be the additional funding for Launceston Hospital, the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, the education funding, the infrastructure and regional development funding, the funding for water irrigation, the funding for new manufacturing, expansion of a fibre based National Broadband Network. We are delivering for Tasmanians. And one of the areas, of course, is through Marinus Link, talked about by the former Coalition government, never delivered. We're delivering Marinus Link, and the federal Coalition is saying they'll get rid of the Rewiring the Nation Program is just one of the cuts that they will make. As well as their cuts to the Housing Australia Future Fund, as well as their cuts to National Reconstruction Fund. I noticed today the Tasmanian Premier speaking in the paper about the need for support for the Sun Cable Project which will occur in this electorate. Well under his friends in the federal Coalition, they're going to get rid of the whole program. They're going to get rid of all those programs, but they're going to have this nuclear fantasy which takes too long, is too expensive, and will lead to higher power bills. Now for Tasmania, that is particularly irky, because at the same time that they'll get rid of programs that are delivering through Rewiring the Nation, projects like Marinus Link, they will ensure that every single Tasmanian taxpayer has to pay their taxes for a publicly funded nuclear program that won't deliver anything until the 2040s. That will ensure that there is deinvestment in the important projects taking Tasmania forward, but Tasmanians will have to pay for it. Every single Tasmanian taxpayer. Well it's a bit like the fact that we delivered tax cuts for every Tasmanian taxpayer, that was also opposed by Peter Dutton and his team. Peter Dutton's plan for nuclear energy is not only too costly, it not only will take too long, it also will undermine existing investment which is taking place. What we need to do is to not have Tasmanian taxpayers fund this nuclear fantasy on the North Island which will deliver not a thing for Tasmania. So I'm really pleased to be here with Jess. This is an exciting day. She is a fantastic candidate and will be a strong representative for this electorate, and I'd ask her to address you now.
JESS TEESDALE, FEDERAL LABOR CANDIDATE FOR BASS: Good morning. How wonderful is it to welcome the Prime Minister back to Bass today. Thank you for being here. My name is Jess Teesdale, and I'm proud to be the Labor candidate for Bass in the upcoming federal election. Many of you have been waiting a long time for this announcement, and I thank the party for allowing me to finish the year with my students as a teacher and focus on them before jumping into this incredible new opportunity. Growing up in Launceston, I always felt very connected to my community. However, unfortunately, like many young Tasmanians, soon after graduating, I needed to leave to find a working opportunity on the mainland. After ten years of teaching in the Northern Territory, I saw very clearly how much national funding and dollars create an impact, particularly for regional and remote communities. So upon my return to Tasmania four years ago, I made sure that I joined the Labor Party to meet like-minded people, many of whom are here today, to work towards building a stronger, healthier community. I'm running now for Bass because I believe in creating an environment in Tasmania where people feel empowered, connected and supported to be able to engage with their local community and live a financially, physically and mentally healthy lifestyle. I'm running to ensure that no people have to leave to access good job opportunities, they don't have to leave to have quality education, or to be able to access affordable healthcare. Labor has been delivering for government and the Prime Minister has just mentioned many occasions, particularly the Launceston Medicare Urgent Care Clinic and the raise for, our much needed raise for our early childhood educators. Labor will continue to deliver on the strong foundation that they have built over the last three years when re-elected, particularly by providing that minimum school guarantee for early childhood students. Together, we need to work together to build a Bass that is connected, hopeful and healthy. Please join me, for all of us, in helping this become a reality. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Jess. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: How winnable in Bass, really? Bridget Archer seems pretty ensconced in the seat.
PRIME MINISTER: It's absolutely winnable. It's the most, one of the most marginal seats in the country, at around about 1 per cent. And we have a fantastic candidate here in Jess Teesdale. And Bridget Archer’s, I think, a good person. I think she's a good person, but she's a part of, a member of a bad party. A party which increasingly is seeing any moderate voices driven out. You've seen Simon Birmingham go, Paul Fletcher go. Christopher Pyne went some time ago. The truth is that there aren't many liberals left in the Liberal Party, and the fact that Bridget Archer, from time to time, has opposed things that her party has done is to her credit, but it hasn't made a difference. It hasn't changed their view. They've continued to become more and more conservative, more and more right wing as time has gone on. And the return of Eric Abetz into a position of influence in Tasmania is just another example of that. So I think it is out of step with where Tasmanians want to go. Tasmanians want a political party in government that supports jobs, that support sustainability, that supports communities, be it child care, aged care, with our aged care reforms, and supports in infrastructure, and that requires a majority Labor government. People understand that, and that's why we're backing Jess Teesdale.
JOURNALIST: You seems to be spending a lot of time in Tassie recently. Just how crucial can these seats be to winning the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: I love Tasmania, and I've always spent a lot of time here, and I have a record here. Whether it be the Rail Reconstruction Program, the upgrades to the Bass Highway, the upgrades to the Midlands Highway, the support for regional economic development over a long period of time. I have a record here in Tasmania that I'm very proud of. We've supported not just the new upgrade that will occur to UTAS Stadium, but I supported an upgrade when it was called the Aurora Stadium some time ago, that helped to bring AFL games regularly here to the north of the state. So I have a proud record here in Tasmania, and I've always understood that Tasmania deserves as much consideration as any other state or territory. And that stands in stark contrast to my three predecessors as Prime Minister who visited when an election was on but not much in between.
JOURNALIST: Did you make a mistake coming to the west coast without making a decision, or being able to make a decision on Macquarie Harbour? Being labelled a Grinch in all the papers and media releases today.
PRIME MINISTER: No, that's called the law. I don't make a mistake by complying with the law. I support jobs on the West Coast, I support the salmon industry, and I'll continue to do so and I was welcomed very strongly. And anyone who labels that wasn't there yesterday. At the at the Christmas party, it was fantastic, whether they were the youngest people or the oldest people there, there was nothing but welcome. And indeed, the liberal candidate tried to get his, wanted to get a photo with me. So that says something about where they're at.
JOURNALIST: Don’t you think it’s an issue here that people know what they get from the Coalition on salmon, but not from Labor -
PRIME MINISTER: But they don't know what they get. The government of the day has to comply with the law, otherwise the law intervenes. It's not a matter of convenience. The law applies, and the law that applies in this case is the law that was put there by John Howard, because it's the Howard Government's Act. We have legislation that we'd like to improve, to improve industry and improve sustainability, and that up to this point, hasn't received the support of either the Coalition or the Greens party.
JOURNALIST: On the flip side, the Greens are criticising your lack of support, it seems, for the Maugean Skate. And is accusing you of playing a bit of a political game with this. Is this what’s the case here?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm doing is supporting industry and also supporting good outcomes for the skate. That's why we're funding the oxygenation at Macquarie Harbour. That's why we're funding the captive breeding program that's been very successful. That's why we're following the science, which is what you've got to do. I mean, the Bob Brown Foundation and the Greens have never seen a job they didn't want to lose for Tasmania. That's the truth of the matter. Doesn't matter what industry it is, doesn't matter where it is - they're against it. I remember when I was the Minister funding programs here, Bob Brown coming to see me about Three Capes Track. I went on a walk there a couple years ago, private capacity, it's absolutely fantastic. Providing tourism jobs and jobs here in Tasmania. I make no apologies for supporting jobs. And in Anne Urquhart, we've got a candidate who understands jobs in the North West. She's someone who was came up through working at Simplot, when it was, previously I think it was Birdseye, when she worked there as a delegate standing up for workers. She'll stand up for workers, just like Jess Teesdale will stand up for workers and the economy here in Tasmania. We want a Tasmanian economy that grows. What the opposition have declared on Friday with an energy plan that is based upon 40 per cent less energy being produced. That means 40 per cent less economic activity is what they are planning for. You know, we want to attract industries like green steel, green aluminium. We want to attract manufacturing here, driven by clean energy. Tasmania is in a really strong position to do that, along with other parts of the country, to take advantage of what we have. What they are saying is that the coalition with their nuclear energy plan, want a smaller economy, they want less jobs, they want less growth, they want less activity going forward, and it's there in their own documentation. Well I'm optimistic about Australia. I want an Australia that seizes the opportunity of clean energy, that seizes the opportunity of creating those jobs.
JOURNALIST: You just mentioned electricity. Did your government's failure to cut power bills by $275 open the door for people to consider other options like nuclear?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Coalition, of course, were in government for the previous 10 years. They didn't look at this because it doesn't stack up. There is not a single private investor coming forward saying they want to invest in nuclear because it doesn't stack up. It does not make sense for Australia. What we had was a global energy price spike that occurred after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The spikes overseas were far more than they were here. Inflation hit double digits overseas in many economies - they hit a recession, or at least one quarter of economic contraction across advanced economies across the world. We have managed to continue to have economic growth. More than a million jobs have been created on our watch, with an unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent. We inherited an inflation rate which had a six in front of it and was rising. Now we have an inflation rate with a two in front of it, and it's falling. We have at the same time delivered cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, free TAFE, energy bill relief, a tax cut for every taxpayer. And you know what all of them have in common? They were all opposed by Peter Dutton. Peter Dutton has been opposition leader for two and a half years. He hasn't come up with a single cost of living measure and now he's come up with the most expensive form of new energy that somehow, he says will make things cheaper. Well, I'll listen to the CSIRO, I'll listen to the Australian Energy Market Operator, who all say that the most expensive form of new energy will increase people's power bills by $1200, which is why on Friday there was no mention about the impact on consumers, none whatsoever, because Peter Dutton isn't concerned with that. He just wants to stop investment in renewables as part of his ongoing culture war. Because this is a guy who always seeks to divide, never seeks to bring the country together. That's been his whole record in public life for two decades. Tasmanians deserve better, Australia deserves better, and we will give them better.
JOURNALIST: You're confident voters will reject the nuclear option, but if they do support it, will Labor drop its moratorium on nuclear?
PRIME MINISTER: No one is going to. They couldn't even get the Queensland LNP to drop their moratorium, because it makes no sense. There's a moratorium in his own state. There's a moratorium in New South Wales, across federally. And you know who introduced the moratorium on nuclear energy? Here's a question for the media. See if you can guess. I'll give you I'll give you a clue. He was Prime Minister for a long time. John Howard introduced the moratorium on nuclear energy because it doesn't make any sense here. And last term Peter Dutton, Barnaby Joyce, Angus Taylor are all on the record with quotes saying it's too costly, it takes too long, and it's a distraction from what Australia needs. They, in their own words, wrote this off. What you have here is the National Party tail wagging the Coalition dog and Peter Dutton being too weak to stand up to the ideologues who dominate the Coalition. Too weak to stand up to them and say, no, this does not make sense for Australia. Which is why every energy expert in this country is saying it doesn't make sense. And that's why Friday's so called release of costings didn't last an hour. I mean, this is the mob that couldn't even get right the phone hook up to tell their caucus members what they were doing - wasn't any consultation, they didn't get any input. Couldn't even get the time right. So you had people waiting online for a call that was not going to happen for an hour. And these are people who are going to build nuclear reactors in the coming decade and a bit? I mean, give me a break. These people couldn't build commuted car parks next to a train station. They forgot and they built them where there was no trains or no train station. These are people who just are negative, who spent a decade in office, didn't do any of this, and left Australia playing catch up because they didn't invest in renewables, because they were so ideologically opposed. That's why Marinus Link didn't happen. That's why so many projects didn't happen. Snowy 2.0 wasn't connected up with the grid. You spend billions of dollars on a new project, hydro project, and forget to plug it in to the grid. That’s what they did, and they simply don't have credibility on any of these issues. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Jess, what made you want to take a step out of the classroom and into federal parliament?
TEESDALE: So I have left the classroom aiming to create a broader change. So within a classroom you can create a really huge impact, but that impact is on between 15 to 30 students and their families. I'm now looking
to create an impact on a national scale and that is why I left.
JOURNALIST: And do you think you can win the seat? The Prime Minister says you can, but obviously Bridget Archer increased the margin at the last election. Do you think you can bridge the gap?
TEESDALE: I think with supporters like we have here today, I believe that we can do anything.
JOURNALIST: The polls are going the wrong way for Labor nationally. You think there's a mood for change locally towards the government?
TEESDALE: Yeah, absolutely. I think particularly with the talk of division, particularly across our nation and more internationally it's time for us to look inside. We need to build our community and we need to be strong together.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Thanks very much.