JOHN LAWS, HOST: We have the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, on the line. Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, John. And congratulations. What an achievement. 70th anniversary of being on radio is quite remarkable. And you have made Australia better for your contribution.
LAWS: Isn't that a nice thing for you to say. Thank you very much for those extremely kind words. It doesn't seem like 70 years, but it is when you say it. It is a long time.
PRIME MINISTER: It is, John. But you're going strong still, and over the 70 years, one of the things about that longevity is that I can remember listening to you as a young lad, and I'm 60. So, you've been a constant in a world of change, which is often too fast. We all want the world to slow down. And I think the reliability, your professionalism has been extraordinary. You are respected across the political spectrum, but most importantly, across society as well. And I just am amazed at your energy that you have. You are undoubtedly the most significant broadcaster on radio that Australia has seen.
LAWS: Isn't that a lovely thing to say. That's a really nice thing to say, and particularly coming from the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's all true, John. And you and I have had the opportunity as well to catch up and have lunch. And you're just an engaging character and you're a feature. You are loved in the cities, you're loved in the regions right around the country. And it's just amazing that you've just kept going from starting I think it's 3BO in Bendigo, but working around the regions before you ended up, of course, on metro radio, but broadcast nationally as well.
LAWS: You're the 16th Prime Minister to whom I have spoken. That's a hell of a lot of Prime Ministers.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we were changing too regularly for a while there.
LAWS: That's true.
PRIME MINISTER: John, and my comment about constancy that you've provided and that stability. We've had in a short period of time, you know, John, that a little fun fact is, the next election, I will be seeking to be the first Prime Minister in over 20 years to be reelected. All the elections since 2004 was John Howard, of course, and then we had successive elections. We've had Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and myself. So, no one's actually won two since John Howard. And that says something as well about just the pace of change and all of that. One of the things that people have been able to rely upon, though, is turning on their radio and listening to John Laws.
LAWS: You're very kind. I hope, because of your superior position in our society now, that we can still have a lunch together.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, absolutely, John. I enjoyed the last time that we caught up, and perhaps we can over December or January. That would be a good thing to do.
LAWS: Okay. Well, I'd love to do it. And I appreciate your time. And I particularly appreciate your call because it's very important to me. It makes me feel good and it makes the listeners feel good that the Prime Minister of this great country would take the time to pick up the phone and say good luck and good on you. And good on you too, Prime Minister. You're doing a great job.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, John. And for all of your listeners, it's a bit early to do a Christmas shout out, but I will. I just hope that the festive season is a good for everyone to spend time with their families and with their friends and loved ones. I'm hoping that we don't suffer from bushfires over this summer. It's quite a dangerous combination of heat and dry coming up. But I sincerely hope that everyone has a very good summer ahead.
LAWS: And I hope you do and the people you love.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, John, I look forward to catching up. All the best.
LAWS: Thank you very much. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as I've said from the outset, like or dislike his politics, that's entirely up to you, but you're not going to find a nicer man, you really are not. He's a very nice human being.