STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: Prime Minister, welcome to ABC Radio Brisbane once again.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. Good to be with you, Steve.
AUSTIN: Sorry, you're not in the studio with me today. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Firstly, Angus Taylor, the Opposition or the Shadow Treasury spokesperson was at the National Press Club today and once again he raised concerns about migration to Australia, pointing out that your Government has no plan to absorb properly or adequately over one million new migrants apparently coming into Australia in the near future. Where's the plan to house them and care for them properly?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you should have a look at the migration plan that was announced by Clare O'Neil at the National Press Club a couple of weeks ago. The fact is that this is a bit of a low rent attempt by members of the Coalition. The fact is that the projections from the bloke who's now the Leader of the Opposition when he was Home Affairs Minister, responsible for immigration, will have seen the projections that are now due to take place in a few years' time, in place by 2022, is when the population was expected to meet that under the Coalition's watch. So if they're worried about this being something in the future, they must have been completely oblivious to what their own record was.
AUSTIN: What's the housing plan? In other words, where are they going to live? That's a big concern for my listeners, Prime Minister. Where are these new migrants coming into Australia that we apparently need, where are they going to live given the current housing crisis?
PRIME MINISTER: There are two points that are important. It's important to not be sucked into a scare campaign about what the migration levels are. What has occurred is that there's a temporary lift because unlike previously when people were coming in and going out, what occurred was that no one was coming in while the borders were closed. So students, for example, in their tens of thousands, who make a major contribution to our economy, normally you would expect numbers of them coming and the same number leaving - that is what has occurred in the past. What's occurred now is that, of course, after the border has been lifted students are coming back from India, China, and a range of other countries, but particularly those two and that's a good thing.
AUSTIN: So to return to normal essentially is what you're arguing?
PRIME MINISTER: That's exactly what's happening. And in indeed, the numbers for migration are less than what was projected under the Coalition so they're just the facts. Secondly, when it comes to housing, we have a range of policies in place including the Housing Accord for the building and construction of a million homes - that's the first thing that we have in place. The second thing we have in place is massive investment in social and affordable housing including our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund that the Coalition and the Greens are currently blocking from being carried through the Senate. Thirdly, if you look at the policies that we had as part of the Budget, our build-to-rent scheme, it's anticipated by offering essentially tax measures and incentives to invest in build-to-rent. The Property Council estimates that will lead to 250,000 additional dwellings being built. In addition to that you have your Commonwealth State Housing Agreement, we extended that by $1.6 billion in the Budget in order to then negotiate out a proper five-year agreement. And in addition to that, one of the first things we did when we came to office is put in an additional half a billion dollars for housing into NHFIC, and in the Budget that was there we allocated another $2 billion to be available for community housing. So across the board, whether it's encouraging private sector investment, public and social and community housing, whether it be affordable housing initiatives, we are doing all of that.
AUSTIN: So what you're telling Australian citizens is that the Federal Government has no concerns - they won't feel the effect of over a million migrants coming into Australia in any adverse way?
PRIME MINISTER: People are here, that's the other thing. You're using the Coalition's rhetoric.
AUSTIN: Well no, I'm trying to understand, tell you what my listeners are concerned with. Basically, you're saying it's a return to normality, less than when the Coalition was in government in fact, and it won't affect Australians adversely?
PRIME MINISTER: The migration plan that we put forward, I'm putting forward the fact that we do have housing plans, they are at the moment being blocked some of them, by the Coalition. And what they should do is get out of the way of those changes which will make a difference. In addition to that, we have our Housing Supply and Affordability Council. We need to have better planning, there needs to be increased density in our cities, in particular our capital cities in appropriate areas. And we need to make sure that there's an appropriate land release as well, and deal with the issue of supply. Because unless you deal with supply issues then there will be an added pressure in housing. We understand there's pressure in the housing market. But what we're doing is putting in place a whole series of measures. And in addition to that, our migration plan, where we're dealing with the mess that we inherited, where over a million people are waiting for visas, we're dealing with that with an orderly plan which as Clare O'Neil said at the National Press Club, would lead to less migrants, but the right migrants in the right places to fulfil the labour needs that are required in this country.
AUSTIN: The housing crisis is biting hard here in the state of Queensland, I know it is in other states as well. But the former unused quarantine facility at Pinkenba on the north side of Brisbane city sits empty, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Adrian Schrinner is campaigning for it to open up.
ADRIAN SCHRINNER AUDIO: These things don't happen overnight. And we've got a problem right now. People living in tents and cars and there are 500 beds available at the Pinkenba facility. You know, I've said before, it's not the perfect solution, but it is a solution. And it's one that could be activated really, really quickly.
AUSTIN: The Federal Government is responsible for the Pinkenba facility. Why is your Finance Minister Katy Gallagher's office waiting, apparently they're waiting for a formal approach from the Council or the State Government to run the facility as a short term emergency accommodation when people are sleeping in parks and under bridges not far from here. Why is this such a petty thing? Why can't someone from Katy Gallagher's office say, 'yep, go for it, do it. It's sitting empty, do what you need to do'?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, someone's got to run the program. Someone's got to run it.
AUSTIN: I think the council has offered. They put up money to do it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they certainly haven't made an approach to my office. And the Council could, he could talk to his LNP colleagues in the Senate to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund.
AUSTIN: That won't fix the Pinkenba problem, it's sitting empty. It's sitting empty, Prime Minister. It's sitting there.
PRIME MINISTER: My understanding about Pinkenba, certainly when it was raised, and this has been an issue with the former Government, was that there were issues with some contamination issues. I don't know whether they're still there or not.
AUSTIN: It's brand new, how can it be contaminated? It's brand new.
PRIME MINISTER: It's a question without notice, I've had no approach from the Lord Mayor about these issues. But it is not unreasonable for the Finance Minister, the Commonwealth Government does not run service delivery, what we do is we provide financing for service delivery with state and local government. And we'll always look to have a cooperative approach where possible.
AUSTIN: All right, I take the point that you're not necessarily totally familiar with the Pinkenba facility, but a Queensland Government spokesperson has said, and I quote, 'if there is a practical and cost effective way to use this facility, with the support of relevant non-government service providers, we will support it'. In other words, the Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor has said, 'I'll throw in some money to make it happen now'. The State Government says they'll support it, so what's the holdup? You guys have control of it, they can't take it from you. You've got to say, 'here guys, here's the keys, go for your life', and the State has said they will support it.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll look at any practical proposal which is put forward. But we don't run, the Commonwealth doesn't run the state housing system.
AUSTIN: I know but you've got to let them use it. So what I'm getting from you, Anthony Albanese, is that you're prepared to let them use it?
PRIME MINISTER: What I don't do is, with a question without notice, with no proposal that I've read and has been submitted to me, I'm not going to just make a comment without the detail being looked at. If there's a submission being made to the Finance Minister, I'm sure she will look at it, as well as Julie Collins, who I know is in Queensland, our Housing Minister, today.
AUSTIN: All right, my guest is Anthony Albanese, Australia's Prime Minister. The 2032 Olympics, you had significant money in the Budget for the Olympics. Are you entirely happy with the arrangements whereby the state of Queensland has put control for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games in the hands of Annastacia Palaszczuk herself and she says, 'I'm just going to get the money out of the Commonwealth'. Are you entirely happy with this arrangement, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: We have provided funding. And I was very happy with the announcement that we made. We negotiated with the Queensland Government so that we will be responsible for what will be, in the short term the aquatic centre, but will be developed into a long term asset for the people of Brisbane and southeast Queensland.
AUSTIN: This is the Brisbane Live venue at Roma Street?
PRIME MINISTER: That's right.
AUSTIN: So you're entirely happy with that, and you're entirely happy with the fact that Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk is running the whole process, there's no independent delivery authority?
PRIME MINISTER: She's the Premier of Queensland. And Annastacia Palaszczuk, I'm sure will be a part of delivering a magnificent Olympic Games which will benefit the people of southeast Queensland and indeed all of Queensland because there'll be nineteen different venues, including right around regional Queensland, which are also receiving funding from the Commonwealth Government. And it will make an enormous difference.
AUSTIN: Are you entirely happy that it's a good spend of taxpayers money to tear down a perfectly good football stadium at a cost of $2 billion and rebuild it to only obtain 8,000 more seats? Are you entirely happy with that spend of public money?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not just about the number of seats, it's about whether the venue is fit for purpose. And that's a decision for the Queensland Government that's been made on the basis of the advice that it wasn't fit for purpose. To last a long period of time, it is something that has occurred in other states. In my own home city of Sydney, you'd be familiar as a rugby league fan with the new stadium that is there in Sydney. Can I say that that is a magnificent stadium that is now being used, in my view not enough, but the Labor Government's fixing that so it'll be made more available for not just sporting events, but for entertainment events as well. And I am convinced, just as the Sydney Olympics was a game changer for Sydney, and Melbourne Olympics going back to 1956 was a game changer for Melbourne, that this will be a fantastic Olympic Games just as the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast was terrific for that region.
AUSTIN: The Southeast Queensland Council of Mayors originally supported the Olympic bid on the belief that we would have some sort of fast rail network connecting the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast. That was quietly dropped some time back. I know you're a believer in trains, you were very keen on a very fast train network at one point. Are you entirely happy that the whole idea of fast rail, it wasn't very fast rail, but fast rail between the Gold, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Toowoomba has been dropped when initially it was the must have for the Olympics?
PRIME MINISTER: It was a bid of, as I understand it, it was not high speed rail, it wasn't normal rail if you like.
AUSTIN: It wasn't high speed rail, you're right.
PRIME MINISTER: It was sort of a bit in between. Now I remain a supporter of high speed rail down the east coast of Australia. That's what I remain a supporter of, and indeed we've established a high speed rail authority that I have responsibility for. I make this point, the Cross River Rail Project which has been funded without any Commonwealth Government money after it was withdrawn by the Newman Government and the Abbott Government has been a game changer. It will transform people being able to get around through the network because it will massively improve the capacity of the network by having that second crossing.
AUSTIN: My guest is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, I have to let you go in a moment but one final thing. You've cancelled next week's Quad Leaders Meeting in Sydney after the United States President, Joe Biden, pulled out. Are the Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers still coming?
PRIME MINISTER: Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself. He will also have business meetings. He'll hold a very public event at Homebush at the Olympic site in Sydney - just one example of the legacy of what happens when you invest in infrastructure for such a big event. And he will also be engaging with Australia. India business relations are so important. I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney. He made me a very welcome guest way back in March, and he is the host of the G20 this year. Prime Minister Kishida of Japan was just coming for the Quad meeting, there wasn't a separate bilateral program. So what will occur, we're just putting together at the moment is for the four Quad leaders to have discussions when we are at Hiroshima at the G7 meeting over the weekend in Japan, which Prime Minister Kishida is hosting. It is disappointing that President Biden because of what's happening with the debt ceiling and the blockage which is happening in the US, the US government system, by the Republicans there in the Senate and Congress. It's disappointing that he believed he was unable to come down at this point in time. But he will be a welcome guest at a future time. And so we will have the gathering in Hiroshima. And then I'll make a state visit to the United States later this year and President Biden will make his way down to Australia to visit us at some time in the future as well.
AUSTIN: Is it frustrating to you that two of the four Quad leaders aren't coming?
PRIME MINISTER: The decision of President Biden meant that it you can't have a Quad Leaders Meeting when there are only three out of the four there.
AUSTIN: It'll be the duo, the dynamic duo.
PRIME MINISTER: We had bilateral visits planned with Prime Minister Kishida and with President Biden. Instead, the President Biden bilateral visit has been postponed to a later date. Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, I welcomed in a bilateral visit to Perth just at the end of last year, not many months ago.
AUSTIN: You've been very generous with your time, I appreciate it. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thanks very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Steve.