SABRA LANE, HOST: And the new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins us now. Good morning. And congratulations on your win, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Sabra. And good morning to you and your listeners.
LANE: Firstly, your reaction to this report about the boat interception, you've asked for a review. What worries you about it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there was nothing normal about the protocols that were not observed here. We had a circumstance whereby the Prime Minister's Office contacted my office in the middle of Saturday, we indicated that it would be entirely inappropriate for this event to be politicised. It's a clear breach of the Caretaker Conventions. And this is a Government and a former prime minister who used to stand up and say he wouldn't comment on water matters. Very clearly, this statement was made so that it could facilitate the sending of, we're not sure how many, but potentially many millions of text messages to voters in a last minute scare campaign. It was an entire abuse of proper processes and a disgraceful act from a Government which was prepared to politicise everything, but sold nothing.
LANE: Are you worried about the politicisation of the public service? And do you have confidence in Mike Pezzullo, the Home Affairs Secretary?
PRIME MINISTER: I do have confidence in Mike Pezzullo. This was a decision made by Scott Morrison in a desperate attempt to run a last minute scare campaign. And the politicisation of it stands in stark contrast with Scott Morrison's own comments over many years that there would be no comments on on-water matters. This was an interception by the Australian Border Force. The processes were still underway. And it was extraordinary that this statement was made in order to enable those text messages to be sent to people. People were wondering what was going on when they were receiving that text message. It just showed that the Government had really lost perspective. They were prepared to politicise anything and everything. And this was a real low light. Amongst many, there was some competition in the recent period by the former Government. But this was a new low.
LANE: The Nadesalingam family, the Tamil family who had been living in the Queensland town of Biloela, will they be allowed to return to that town?
PRIME MINISTER: Certainly, Jim Chalmers, who is the interim Home Affairs Minister, will be making a statement today. And it will be consistent with my view that you can have strong borders without being weak on humanity. This is a family that were welcomed and were part of the Biloela community. And at a cost of many millions of dollars, have been treated in a way which just is not appropriate with Australian values. These two young girls were born here in Australia. Nades is a meat worker in Biloela. We struggle to get people who are meat workers. We import temporary labour into our meat works. And they want, the community want, this family back to Biloela. And that would be an entirely appropriate outcome.
LANE: How will you counter arguments that this might be seen as an incentive for others to try their luck?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is the former Government, of course, if they were nannies for someone who was connected with someone in the Government, there would be no issue here. Ministerial discretion is used all the time. That's why it exists in the Immigration Act. These are two people who are part of the community. The community want them to stay. And these two young girls were born here. They are loved by their local community. In 2019, I travelled to Biloela as the Labor Leader, I met with the community. They have wanted the family back. And the cost, the cost to the health, frankly, of these two young girls, as well as to their mum and dad, but the economic cost to Australian taxpayers has been extraordinary. And that is why there needs to be a clear resolution of these issues, which is what the local community in this regional town of Biloela want.
LANE: The Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, is in Fiji. What dance does Australia have in persuading Pacific nations to shun China's advances here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're on the field now. And that's a big difference. Because the former Government had dropped the ball. Penny Wong has made a very early visit to Fiji to make the point that the incoming Government have a comprehensive plan for the Pacific. It includes an extra half a billion dollars of aid. It includes extra support for maritime security. And it includes increased migration programs to and from Australia, both in terms of temporary migration, but also a more permanent migration program specifically for people of the Pacific Islands. But it also includes a Government that will take climate change seriously. And that is something that is music to the ears of people in the Pacific for whom the climate change threat is one to their very existence in places like Tuvalu and Kiribati. So, I believe that we will be well-received.
LANE: Can you match what China is offering? They are offering to train local police, become involved in cybersecurity, expand political ties, conduct sensitive maritime mapping.
PRIME MINISTER: What we can offer is no strings attached. And that's the big difference. We can offer respect for the sovereignty of our Pacific Island neighbours. We can offer the long-term support and relationships that Australia has with our Pacific Island neighbours. We can offer respect and a relationship that is built upon trust over a long period of time, but particularly since the Second World War. We want to re-engage with our Pacific Island neighbours. And Penny Wong's visit is just the start of that.
LANE: Cost of living is a huge issue. As you know, the Fair Work Commission's looking at the Annual Wage Review right now. And it released a statement yesterday saying a number of employer groups are asking for a delay in increases, citing it to exceptional circumstances. Is your Government going to lodge a submission?
PRIME MINISTER: We will be signing a letter today. I have asked the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to draft that. And it'll be signed today to the Fair Work Commission, saying that we will lodge a new submission on behalf of the Australian Government prior to 7 June, particularly aimed at people who are earning just the minimum wage. It's just $20.33 an hour. And the submission will be consistent with what I said during the election campaign, that people who are on the minimum wage can't afford to go backwards, can't afford a real wage cut.
LANE: Will you specify a quantum of the increase that the Government would like? 5.1 is the current inflation rate.
PRIME MINISTER: There won't be a number in the submission. What there will be, though, is the strong view that we have that people who are on the minimum wage simply can't afford a real wage cut.
LANE: The Treasurer is also pointing to the cost of living situation being pretty bad. And he's going to update Australians soon. When will you do that? And are you tempted to copy what Boris Johnson's Government has done overnight? They've announced a one-off 25 per cent tax on the super profits of oil producers to help with the power electricity hikes over there.
PRIME MINISTER: No, we won't be going down that track. What we will be doing though is identifying how we can make a practical difference in addition to the announcements that we made during the election campaign about cost of living. We know, when it comes to energy prices, there's enormous pressure out there. And that's because we've had nine years of policy chaos. We've had an neglect of the ageing grid. Our plan is to put downward pressure on prices by boosting renewables and storage in the grid. The work has been done by AEMO, the Australian Energy Market Operator, in the Integrated Systems Plan. It was in my my first Budget Reply that we needed to upgrade the grid so that renewables can actually fit in to the system and modernise it for the 21st century. And that is why I noticed that the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have called for everyone across the Parliament to support our plan that we put forward during the election campaign for Powering Australia. We need to tackle cost of living. The good news is that our climate change plan will put downward pressure on prices at the same time as it creates jobs and economic activity.
LANE: Prime Minister, we're out of time. I'd like to talk to you soon again about improving political standards in Parliament. But thank you for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: We will talk again, Sabra. Thank you very much.