PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: It was a defining moment in Australia's history and the growing war on terror. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be attending a memorial ceremony in Sydney this morning and he's our guest this morning. Prime Minister, welcome.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Patricia.
KARVELAS: Prime Minister, in many ways those bombings changed how Australians viewed terrorism. It happened so close to our doorstep. It altered our approach to national security. You were in parliament in Opposition at the time. How do you think we dealt with that? And how has Australia since changed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the shockwaves from Bali certainly reached our shores. 88 Australians lost their lives in this act of terror and cowardice, of the 202 people from around the world who lost their lives. And Bali, of course, is a place where Australians for generations have gone to enjoy each other's company, to mix with people from around the world and it's a fun place. And for tragedy to strike as it did there, at the Sari Club, it hit home. I think it reverberated right around our nation that we weren't free from the terror that we'd seen so tragically played out in New York, that it could be brought much close to our shores, and indeed, we needed to be vigilant onshore as well. Today, I'll be commemorating this very sad anniversary with families of people from the Coogee Dolphins. But there were many sporting teams. In particular, Dulwich Hill Newtown Basketball Club from my electorate lost Debbie and Abbey Borgia, a mum and daughter, the youngest Australian who lost their lives. So it hit communities right around Australia. And I think it really shook Australians up.
KARVELAS: It did. The nature of national security threats have also changed over the past 20 years. As we reflect on the lives lost, we also reflect on terror and the way we deal with these issues. Has the threat of terrorists like Jemaah Islamiyah or Al Qaeda been superseded by threats from rogue states and even the emergence of right-wing terrorism?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what has occurred over a period of time is that the nature of the threat has changed, but the need to be diligent has not. There are still, of course, threats from the terrorist organisations that you've named. But there are so many other offshoots. And we see a rise, as well, of the individual act: getting information online, putting together weapons and carrying out these cowardly attacks against humanity. What has occurred over the 20 years is that our security agencies really have done a remarkable job to keep us safe. We know that there have been attempts here in Australia. Attempts to put together attacks on great events such as at the MCG and other events were thwarted. I think the National Security Committee, regardless of who is in government, meets far more regularly. We have far greater resources for our security agencies. And Australians are much more conscious about the threat because of what happened 20 years ago. The ache hasn’t dimmed from that 20 years on.
KARVELAS: And of course, at the same time, your government has been considering bringing back women and children from Syrian camps. Peter Dutton, the Opposition Leader, wants more resourcing for ASIO. Is that something currently under consideration?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll provide the security agencies all of the resources that they need to do their job. I regard it as a great honour, I went to the ASIO headquarters there in Canberra and met and thanked personally those officials and officers who do such an extraordinary job in keeping us safe. But all of the security agencies, ASIO, ASIS, ONI, the Defence Department itself, the AFP, they do a remarkable job and we should give thanks to them each and every day and my government will ensure that they always have the resources that they need.
KARVELAS: Prime Minister, will you send Australian personnel to train Ukrainian forces? Is that something Ukraine has asked for and you're considering?
PRIME MINISTER: I had a very good discussion with President Zelenskyy last night. I conveyed to him both the condolences of the Australian people for the quite horrific actions that were taken against civilian targets by Russian forces in recent days. And I also conveyed to him our ongoing commitment to give every support that we can to Ukraine. We will give consideration to all requests that are made. This is a struggle not just about Ukraine and its sovereign borders, this is a struggle about the international rule of law, about whether it is respected. And that is why the struggle of the Ukrainian people is so inspirational against a much larger country with a much larger military. But they are determined to defend their nation and they are making great sacrifice to do so. And that's why democracies, both in NATO and outside of NATO are providing Ukraine support.
KARVELAS: Have you thought a timeframe for when you will make a decision about those issues? Bushmasters, all of it?
PRIME MINISTER: We will make a decision over coming days. We will give consideration to the requests that have been made.
KARVELAS: And you are prepared to send Australians to help?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the request is about training and we'll give consideration to that and make an announcement at an appropriate time. But what we know is that the Ukrainian people are not going to give up. And President Zelenskyy, I regarded it as a great honour to speak with him at this very difficult time for his country.
KARVELAS: Just finally, Prime Minister, the war in Ukraine has no doubt shocked global economies already devastated by COVID and also affected Australia's bottom line. There are two weeks to the budget. The Treasurer spoke to me yesterday. There's a lot of positioning for the budget. Is the budget going to have, as the Treasurer says, some risky decisions? Are we going to see spending cuts beyond what you describe as rorts, to deal with the fact that spending is huge in some areas and clearly spending has to be brought under control?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll be going through line by line and that's what the ERC has been doing diligently. Yesterday the ERC met yet again. In addition to that, the Cabinet and the National Security Committee.
KARVELAS: And will there be risky decisions, politically risky decisions?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, any cut is a risky decision and there will be spending cuts in the budget. It will be a responsible budget. As we've consistently said, we've gone through line by line. What you don't need at this time is monetary policy and fiscal policy working against each other. And that's why in the inflationary period, which is a global inflationary period that we're seeing. We've seen the fastest synchronised tightening of monetary policy that we've seeing from central banks in decades. And that, of course, is a response to those international circumstances and the Australian Government has to respond to that as well in a way that's consistent.
KARVELAS: Prime Minister, we're out of time. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Patricia.
KARVELAS: That's Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia.