LEON COMPTON, HOST: The Prime Minister of Australia – off the back of an interest rate cut and an announcement on the weekend that no jobs will be lost in the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour. A lot of you wondering what that'll mean for the review of the industry there being done by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you.
COMPTON: Appreciate you joining us this morning, Prime Minister. How can you promise no jobs will be lost in the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour when your own Environment Minister is considering the industry's future there?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've had is new environmental research from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies that shows the population is consistent with where it was in 2014. Oxygenation efforts are showing positive results. And one of the things that the industry needs is that certainty. And more importantly, the workers need that as well - that's what we're providing.
COMPTON: If this is a promise to legislate after the election, why not bring Parliament back and introduce the bill so that workers, so that Tasmanians, can see it before any election? Why not make that promise?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the bill's being drafted and who says that Parliament's not sitting again? That's very presumptuous of you, Leon.
COMPTON: Is Parliament sitting again Anthony Albanese?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it may well be. It's scheduled to sit in March in the Budget sittings.
COMPTON: But will it, you know the answer to that question. You decide when an election's called. Will Parliament return?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not. I'm not on your program to announce the election.
COMPTON: It'd be good if you did Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: With due respect – I'm sure you would enjoy it and I'm sure that Raf Epstein in ABC Melbourne that I just spoke to and WSFM in Sydney also wanted to know that. Look, I wish there were four year fixed terms. That's what I've said very clearly. Unfortunately, you need a referendum and every time one's been held, the Liberal Party has opposed it, which leads to this uncertainty, which I think is unfortunate. But my job is to provide certainty and yesterday, indeed, the Reserve Bank provided a decision that has made a difference to many of your listeners. And my job is to run the responsible economic management, but also to protect jobs. Labor will always protect jobs.
COMPTON: Protect jobs at the cost of the environment? Prime Minister, people will wonder if Tanya Plibersek and her office are busy reviewing this at the moment – admittedly with delays that are frustrating for people on all sides of this debate in Tasmania – why not let that review play out?
PRIME MINISTER: We want to provide that certainty and we've done it on the basis of science, on the basis of these studies, on the basis that what's happening with the skate, with the breeding program has been successful up to this point and showing really positive signs. And we want sustainability to be front and centre of everything that we do. But we want sustainability, but we also want an economy that works for people and we want jobs.
COMPTON: Were you getting frustrated with Tanya Plibersek’s office? Have you effectively sidelined the role of this review in making your announcement that you'll legislate for an outcome?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. What we're doing is providing certainty.
COMPTON: Will you commit to actually delivering this bill so that people can see it before there's an election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the drafting will occur. If we can have it in place to introduce it – if Parliament sits – then we'll do that. But we're providing that certainty for people. I can't be clearer. One of the things that I'm saying here is that we're after certainty and you're saying, ‘will you provide certainty?’ And we will do that.
COMPTON: On mornings around Tasmania, it's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Right around Tasmania, great to have your company. Housing affordability, Prime Minister, is an issue here as everywhere around the country. Most experts think that negative gearing contributes to that, prioritising investors over first home buyers and just people that want to buy homes for residences. Will you commit to reviewing negative gearing if you're re elected?
PRIME MINISTER: With respect, people who look at the housing market don't come to that conclusion. What they overwhelmingly come to is that the key issue is supply. And we've got a $32 billion Homes for Australia plan that looks at the full range of measures. Be it increased public and social housing investment through the Housing Australia Future Fund, Build to Rent programs by having incentives for private rentals, and our Help to Buy scheme will assist people into housing, home ownership, through a shared equity scheme. On top of that, we have our reduced deposit, our Housing Australia program that has assisted more than 100,000 Australians into home ownership. The key here is supply and we're working with state and territory governments, including the Rockliff Government in Tasmania, on those issues because planning is of course, the responsibility of state and local government, but we've provided an incentive for state governments to meet those targets.
COMPTON: On mornings around Tasmania. Anthony Albanese, Ben in Launceston gave us a call before news at 9:00. He's a dad with a couple of kids and he wanted to ask about the cost of living in his household.
LISTENER: I earn quite a reasonable income. My partner, not so much. She's at home with two of our kids and we struggle on the day to day. Everyone you speak to is in the same boat. You know, a quarter of a percent interest rate reduction is going to do little to nothing for most households – let's be realistic about it.
COMPTON: What would you say to Ben in Launceston who's struggling with his family?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd say that we understand that Australians are doing it tough, that we've had Covid crisis with all the shutdowns and wind back of the economy that occurred and then we've had global inflation – had an impact not just here but right around the world. But under Labor, inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low and now interest rates have started to come down too. We inherited an inflation rate that had a 6 in front of it when we came to office. The previous government planned in its March budget just weeks before the election for a $78 billion deficit. Under the Liberals we turned that into a $22 billion surplus. We've worked hard to get inflation down and Australians have worked hard. It’s now down to 2.4 per cent which is a third of where it peaked. That's a positive thing but we know there's a lot more work to do.
COMPTON: I know you've got to be off the phone in a minute or so. A listener who's heavily involved in the forestry industry in Tasmania has texted a question. Is the federal government, is your government still committed to native forest logging in Tasmania? Labor governments in Western Australia, Victoria have ended the practice. Is your federal government still committed to it here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the federal government doesn't engage – we're not participants in the process. But we do think that there's a role for the forestry industry and that's important. There are particular, of course, timbers that can only be got through that industry and that plays an important role as well as, of course, plantations play an important role. The forestry industry is important for Tasmania but it's also important so that we don't face a situation, which we do have in Australia, of importing timber. I mean, we have this huge continent with a north island and a south island there in Tasmania. It is, quite frankly, I think of concern that we import timber which is not done sustainably in order to meet our needs. So, I think it requires a sensible approach, a sustainable approach. But I think the forestry industry is important.
COMPTON: Prime Minister, we've got bucket loads of texts we won't be able to get to them. We'd love to have you in the studio talking to our audience around Tasmania in the course of the upcoming election campaign. Can you do it?
PRIME MINISTER: I certainly have been in that studio many a time, as you know, talking with you and talking with the other presenters and I'm always happy to make myself available.
COMPTON: We'd appreciate having you back again between now and the election, Anthony Albanese. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.