Steve Austin, Host: My guest is the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. Prime Minister, good afternoon.
Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: G'day, Steve. I assure you it's not 18 degrees in Canberra today.
Austin: What is it? What is the temperature?
Prime Minister: It is freezing. It was, this morning when I woke up, the wonderful ABC announced, I think it was minus five, feels like minus ten.
Austin: Are you a blanket or a doona man?
Prime Minister: Whatever I can get in Canberra, I've got to say. You get the frost on the grass, so even my little dog this morning, when I went downstairs, it was just before 6:00, opened the door, the dog, I had to almost carry it out and put it on the grass, because little Toto was like, 'no, this is too cold. I'll just hang on, I'll cross my legs.'
Austin: Who takes Toto for a walk? You or your partner?
Prime Minister: Toto, one of the benefits of The Lodge, I've got to say, is that there is a reasonable size grounds and it's secure. So Toto has a bit of a run, but we went for walks on Sunday, we went for a walk around the lake here. It was very cold, but there are some beautiful walks in Canberra, beautiful mountains, but it is cold this time of year.
Austin: My guest is Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. This is ABC Radio Brisbane, Steve Austin is my name. Okay, the Voice debate has passed through both the lower and the upper house now. What happens next, Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: What happens next is that it has to wait between two months and 33 days after the passage of the legislation yesterday before a vote can be held. Somewhere between there and six months is when the vote has to be held. We will have to give at least 33 days' notice, like a normal election campaign. And then all Australians will get to vote on what is a very clear proposition to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution through a Voice to Parliament, and allow Indigenous people to make representations, to give advice and to be listened to.
Austin: If the Voice gets up, what does it mean for the Queensland State Government, who have been running Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships here in Queensland for years?
Prime Minister: Well, one of the eight principles that have been put forward is that it will work with existing organisations. So that will differ according to what the local Indigenous people want. We know that in Queensland, of course, Torres Strait Islander people will get specific representation as part of the Voice. That was part of the Calma- Langton recommendations that went to the former government.
Austin: So TI people want their own sort of representatives, separate from the Aboriginal people, because the Torres Strait Islanders are a different group of people?
Prime Minister: They are, and they will have representation as part of the Voice. Both, of course, people who live in the Torres Strait, but also, of course, there's a lot of Torres Strait Islander people on the mainland.
Austin: Will the Commonwealth take responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues out of the hands of the Queensland State Government, once you get, or if you get the Voice advisory panel approved by the people of Australia?
Prime Minister: No, we won't. To be very clear, the Voice won't be a funding body, it won't run programs, it won't have the power of veto. This is a simple proposition, to have an advisory group to government that can make representations on matters that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Austin: Bob Katter, whom you know well, is the Member for Kennedy, and Bob Katter has described it as just another layer of government. Here in Queensland, there's local Aboriginal councils, then there's the State Government, then there's the Federal Government, and then there'll be the Voice advisory group. That's four different levels of people, all involved in making decisions for Indigenous people of Queensland. How is it better to increase the levels of government?
Prime Minister: Well this isn't increasing the levels of government. It won't make decisions. It will simply be an advisory group and it will work with other existing bodies – that's one of the principles.
Austin: But Queensland already has advisory groups though, I guess is the point that Bob Katter is making.
Prime Minister: There is no advisory group to the national government and to the Australian Parliament at the moment. And that is what this is about. It's not about supplanting existing organisations. It's simply an advisory body. So that, when Indigenous Australians met in the Constitutional Convention back in 2017 at Uluru, they said that they wanted, through the Uluru Statement From The Heart, they wanted constitutional recognition, but they wanted to have a form, so it's not just something that was symbolic, and the form that they wanted was to have an advisory body.
Austin: I understand that, but the Queensland State Government, who is responsible for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander partnership policy in Queensland already has advisory bodies. Why does the Commonwealth need one when the Commonwealth doesn't run Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy in Queensland? The State of Queensland does?
Prime Minister: The Commonwealth Government have a range of influences over Indigenous policy. The Commonwealth Government has Closing the Gap targets, most of which aren't currently being met. And the Commonwealth Government policy on areas like health, Commonwealth Government funds Medicare, Commonwealth Government funds universities, Commonwealth Government is involved in housing issues, and having an advisory body to the Commonwealth Government is what we're talking about here. It won't supplant or stop the Queensland advisory bodies giving advice specific to Queensland, to the Queensland Government, nor should it. This is simply a fact of filling in something that is, at the moment, a missing piece. At the moment, there is no advisory group, there is no voice on national issues before the Australian Parliament.
Austin: My guest is the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. I'll move on, because I'm aware that we're under some time pressure. Will your government continue to pursue the Housing Australia Future Fund? It was blocked by the Greens, together with the Liberal Opposition. What's your plan, are you going to continue to pursue it down the track?
Prime Minister: We think this is good policy. It will result in 30,000 additional housing, affordable or social housing units built over the next five years. And it is quite remarkable that people who say they support increased levels of investment in social housing are blocking this measure – both the Greens party and the Liberal and National parties in the Senate. It comes on top of other policies that we've had. On the weekend, of course, we announced additional $2 billion direct funding for social housing. $398 million of that will go to the Queensland Government.
Austin: Did you put provisos on that? Did you put sort of terms and conditions on that 400 million?
Prime Minister: We certainly did, and they were agreed to by all state and territory governments. It must be additional to existing funding arrangements which are there, that is, it's got to add to public housing stock. It can be either new builds or it can be renovating houses that currently are unoccupied because of issues of downgrading, that they're just not up to scratch. It can be for spot purchases as well. It's all got to be spent within the next two years. And it's providing as well on the work that the National Cabinet has already been doing on improving planning laws to improve housing supply. We know that a lack of supply is a big issue that needs to be dealt with, but we're getting advice at the moment from the Solicitor-General about a reintroduction of the Bill on the Housing Australia Future Fund, because we think that is also good policy and very necessary.
Austin: Will you be coming to State of Origin tomorrow?
Prime Minister: No, I'll be here in Parliament, tragically.
Austin: No sympathy, mate. No sympathy.
Prime Minister: Well, the media have a lot to answer for as well, because I won't even be watching it live on TV, because the Press Gallery, in all their wisdom, are having the Midwinter Ball that I have to speak at tomorrow night. Well may you laugh, Steve, but this is an act of cruelty and it is most unfortunate in terms of timing. I know that they say that politicians are out of touch. How out of touch are the National Press Gallery that they put on the Midwinter Ball when Parliament ends at 8:00, right at kickoff time? We'll be there raising money for charity. It's a good event, but I don't see why they didn't hold it last week.
Austin: Cruel and unusual punishment. Thanks for your time. Actually, a quick question. Quick question before you go. A lot of high-profile business figures have been pulling the pin because they're simply burnt out. You're Prime Minister of Australia, what's your strategy to avoid burning out, to exhausting yourself in the job?
Prime Minister: I'm the Eveready Bunny, I get inspired by the great privilege that I have of being Prime Minister.
Austin: Yeah, but everyone feels the workload.
Prime Minister: Look, I certainly do, but when I meet with people – I just had a meeting about an hour ago with the great Michael Long, who's going to walk from Melbourne, from the MCG to Canberra, retracing the steps that he made almost 20 years ago, in support of the Voice to Parliament. It's those sort of meetings with people who you think, 'gee, I can get a bit more energy up, because so many people out there are doing so many remarkable things'. And I also try to have the odd bit of exercise and everything else helps, and doing some normal things. I still play, a very low division, it must be said, but I still play for Marrickville in the Sydney Badge tennis comp. And I am going to play this Saturday. And it is 3 hours off, I find it really good mental health release, because you can't think of anything else except for getting that little tennis ball across the net between the lines. And I think you have to do things like that in order to remain healthy physically and mentally.
Austin: I hope heads roll at the Canberra Press Gallery for organising the Midwinter Ball tomorrow. Thanks for coming on ABC Radio Brisbane.
Prime Minister: Thanks very much, Steve.
Austin: Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.