OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: On top of the world today is our new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese who joins me for his very first radio interview since forming Government. Prime Minister, congratulations. Welcome to Perth Live.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Oly. And sorry to hear your news. I know what it's like to get COVID. I've got it during the campaign, of course. It's a real issue. Make sure you look after yourself, mate.
PETERSON: I certainly will. I appreciate your kind wishes. Has it sunk in yet, though, for you? You are Australia's 31st Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a big deal. And it's a big change for the country. I feel very humbled by having the honour of serving as Prime Minister for our great country. I, growing up, couldn't have anticipated something like this. And didn't when I went into Parliament. I certainly didn't go in with that ambition in mind. But I feel that we're ready to govern. We put forward a coherent plan for a better future for Australia. It's an achievable plan as well. We didn't over promise, I want to under promise, if anything, and over deliver. And I'm particularly stoked that we've received such strong support there in the West. As you know, Oly, I love Western Australia, I have visited there many times. And I promised to visit there 10 times a year as Labor leader, because that is what I had done as a Shadow Minister and as a Minister. I wasn't able to do that because of COVID, which you're experiencing at the moment, but I'm very confident that we can make a practical difference to people's lives, and indeed make a positive difference to the country.
PETERSON: So I was saying for some time that your path to majority victory was right here in WA. Can you quite believe how WA has turned red? Because you now hold nine of those 15 Lower House seats, a 10% swing towards your government. Do you put that down to the popularity of Premier Mark McGowan?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, certainly there's no question that there is an element whereby both myself and Scott Morrison had a choice of siding with Mark McGowan or Clive Palmer. I chose Mark McGowan. I chose to back in West Australians and in particular, the decisions that the McGowan Government made to keep West Australians safe. He understood as the Premier that you needed to look after people's health first, in order to look after the economy. Now there were mixed messages from the former Government about that. The conversations like calling people cave dwellers was obviously not a very nice thing to do, nor politically a very sensible thing to do. And I believe that the West Australians understood that I would work closely with the McGowan Government, not just on issues related to COVID of course, but on issues like making more things there in Western Australia. On secure work, on strengthening Medicare, on cheaper childcare. That the agendas of both of our governments can be characterised by having an objective of having a strong economy, so that you could then promote social inclusion and promote good outcomes in other areas as well, including recognising that we need to value the economic contribution that women can make to the economy as well, through areas like childcare, by lifting wages in feminised industries like aged care.
PETERSON: Prime Minister, how do you reward WA? Will you have a greater representation of MPs in your Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we'll have the caucus processes next week. So I'm not going to further preempt that due to the circumstances. We had to preempt some of the processes that would normally take place because it was vital that Australia be represented at the Quad leaders’ summit that was held in Tokyo over this week. And I was very proud to represent Australia with President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, and Prime Minister Modi. And it was a very successful beginning of the Government. I want to see increased representation across the Government from Western Australia. We'll work through those processes. We've always had quality from Western Australia, now we have quantity as well. And the fact that we have three very strong women who have been elected to House of Representatives seats, in Hasluck, Pearce and Swan. Outstanding candidates they all were. Along with Tangney with Sam Lim, as someone who speaks 10 languages, and also speaks dolphin, I understand as well, which is a fantastic contribution. But I think that the candidates that we put forward were of such quality. Someone like Zaneta Mascarenhas there in Swan, someone who from an Indian background, but who is an engineer, lived a fair portion of her life in Kalgoorlie, she understands the resources sector. Tania Lawrence understands the resources sector as well and has worked in government and in the private sector. Tracey Roberts has been an extraordinary Mayor, and understands the outer suburbs and those communities. In addition with Sam, is extraordinary. And of course, we're hopeful of a good outcome in the Senate from WA as well.
PETERSON: In just the last 20 minutes, Celia Hammond has conceded the seat of Curtin to Kate Chaney. So another Teal Candidate. What impact will the Teals have on the new Parliament? If you're governing in your own right, will there be any cross negotiation or really need for the Government to negotiate with the Teals?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not into negotiating away the mandate that we've received as a Government. What I am into, though, is listening to people and respecting people in the Parliament, the cross benchers. I congratulate Kate on her election, it's a significant achievement to win a seat like Curtin. And we need to be more respectful. I want to end the sort of way that Parliament has operated, particularly in the last few years where the most common resolution moved by the Morrison Government was 'That the Member be no longer heard'. People need to be heard, and people who have been voted for and elected, like Kate Chaney, as well as Members of the Opposition deserve the right to be heard. It doesn't mean that those resolutions will never be moved if the processes are being abused. But the starting point of the Morrison Government was that they didn't want to listen to anyone else, which is why we've seen not just Curtin, but Mackellar, North Sydney, Wentworth, Goldstein, and the Treasurer's seat of Kooyong - formerly safe conservative seats - lost. Because on issues like the need for a National Anti-Corruption Commission, the need for action on climate change, the need to respect women at work, and in all areas of life and full participation in our society. They were just ignored. And as a result, people who have traditionally voted Liberal have voted for Independents, have said enough. And it's a very significant shift in Australian politics. I've always respected people across the Parliament. I ran, as Leader of the Government in the House of Representatives, a Parliament where we started off with 70 votes out of 151 each and every vote that was held in that Parliament. And we didn't lose any legislation over that three years.
PETERSON: When will you reconvene Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm meeting with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet tomorrow. And we'll work those issues through. There's various events and visits that need to be factored in. I want to run an orderly Government. So votes are still being counted at the moment. It's clear that we are likely to form a majority, but it's clear as well, we will have certainly a working majority in the Parliament. A range of the existing crossbenchers, all of them who represent Independents or Bob Katter, and others, have all committed to support for supply and confidence. So it's clear that we will have a working majority in the Parliament. We'll work through an appropriate timetable. There's issues like school holidays, I want to run a family friendly environment as well. We have more women represented in the Parliament after this election, and we have more women with children and fathers with children, as well. So we'll work out an appropriate timetable. And that will be announced once all the ballots have been counted.
PETERSON: Is that why you called Tanya Plibersek into line on her comments comparing Peter Dutton to Voldemort?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I didn't need to do that at all. Tanya apologised for the statement that wasn't appropriate. I want to lead a gentler Parliament. I think we can have policy differences without the sort of engagement that we've seen. I've pointed out that Scott Morrison seemed to do a whole show on one of those late night TV shows that he favoured, interviews on whereby you know, what glasses I wore and what I look like, what clothes I wore, and everything else seemed to be a source of fascination. I think people are over that. People want respectful debate, and I intend to lead a Government that promotes that.
PETERSON: Have you got an update on the Biloela family?
PRIME MINISTER: I do. We'll be making a decision tomorrow. And we will have an announcement on that consistent with what I've said when I became Labor Leader in 2019. I said that the case was very clear. I went to Biloela, I met with the community there. This is a community that wants this family home. Nades worked at the local meat works. This is a meat works that imports temporary labour, that struggles to get enough people to work there. Priya had volunteered at the local St Vincent de Paul, and these two young girls. I mean, for goodness sake, we are a strong enough society to say that we should not treat people badly in order to send a message to others. And it's beyond my comprehension how this has gone on at enormous cost. This has cost tens of millions of dollars. At one stage, this family were the only people in the Christmas Island facility. And the fact that health concerns were raised about one of these young girls. We're better than that. Australia's a more generous and kind country than that. And the decision that will be made by the person who's now in charge of Home Affairs, not on a permanent basis, Jim Chalmers, will be made tomorrow and there'll be a further announcement there.
PETERSON: All right, speaking of changes as well, Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong has just done a media conference in Fiji. What is her message to the region about China even as Chinese diplomats hit the ground there as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the message to the region is that Australia wants to reengage with the region. Quite clearly, there was a consequence behind our cutting of aid, our withdrawal of participation. And that was recognised when Marise Payne took a proposition for increased aid to her Government through their Budget processes at the end of last year. Now, why that was rejected, given the awareness that China was seeking to influence the region to a greater extent, and that that was imparted at our expense, is beyond me. But we will reengage with the region. We understand that the region is very important, that we're talking about democracies here. We're talking about democracies that have a history of engagement with Australia as the national security partner of choice and we want to reengage. We respect these countries' sovereignty and their right to make their own decisions. But we are here as friends, we are here in a supportive role, we have a particular responsibility to assist in the development of these nations. And we also are a Government that will act on climate change. Clearly, climate change is the number one issue that they have identified, as for some of them, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, it's an existential threat to their very existence. So we'll engage with these nations, and we'll engage in a respectful and supportive way.
PETERSON: Prime Minister before I let you go, have you given the airplane a name yet? Because the previous Prime Minister called it Shark One, are you thinking about calling this one McGowan One or perhaps Glory Glory to South Sydney?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that it might stand out a bit if we coloured it in cardinal and myrtle, the South Sydney colours. We, I joked the other day on the plane that we might call it Toto One after my lovely puppy. I think that our Airforce do a great job. And might I say this, that the fact that we had an election on Saturday, we could have a swearing in of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Treasurer and the Finance Minister on Monday morning at 9am. And then myself and Penny Wong could visit Tokyo, representing Australia that day, shows the quality and capacity of our Public Service. And included in that, of course, is our Defence Force. The Air Force do a magnificent job in looking after us, not just in terms of our military roles, but also the role that they play in the civilian sphere, in terms of being able to get us up to Tokyo on Monday. And I really pay tribute to them. We should all be proud of our Public Service, and be proud of the men and women of the Defence Force including the Air Force.
PETERSON: Prime Minister, I appreciate your time. Congratulations on forming Government and we look forward to welcoming you here to Western Australia very soon.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Oly, and all the best for your recovery from COVID. It can take longer than a week. I've got to say, you do get tired. It's a reality. And so make sure that you look after yourself and recover fully.
PETERSON: Appreciate your kind wishes as well. That is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joining us live for his first radio interview since being elected and forming Government over the weekend.
ENDS