CRAIG REUCASSEL, HOST: This morning the Prime Minister's in Sydney to announce a $1 billion spend on South West Sydney to connect Badgerys Creek Airport with Macarthur and Campbelltown. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins me now. Morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Craig. I don't know about your Wordle theory, mate. I reckon if ever I got it in one, I'd be pretty happy.
REUCASSEL: Really? You obviously don't play Wordle then.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve never got it in one.
REUCASSEL: You don't have time for Wordle, do you, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course you do when you're in a car or on a plane.
REUCASSEL: So do you use the same word each day or do you do a new word each day?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I use a new word each day, that's the whole idea.
REUCASSEL: Keep the brain ticking.
PRIME MINISTER: Improve your vocabulary, all of that.
REUCASSEL: Good to hear. Now talk us through, what's this $1 billion for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, essentially at the moment, the new metro line will take people to the new airport at Western Sydney - and that will be a driver of the economy. But we want to make sure as well that we secure future rail corridors, not just between Leppington and Bradfield at the airport, but also between the Bradfield city centre and all those booming suburbs in the Macarthur region. And what this will do is make a contribution to get the planning to get some of the corridor preserved as well. You won't be able to build it for a billion dollars, but it will be important. And we also have a joint business case underway as well to extend the line north from St Mary's as well, so that eventually you can create a loop right around Sydney that will access the airport, but importantly as well access those high value jobs that will come from the Aerotropolis there.
REUCASSEL: So, it's been reported that this billion dollars is to buy the land corridor. So, to get the land from the Aerotropolis to Leppington and Macarthur. Is that what this money is going to go towards?
PRIME MINISTER: That's right. But also, also some of the planning work. If it can go towards some early works, then all the better. But we want to make sure that we make a decision today that allows for the expansion of the (CUTS OUT)
REUCASSEL: Hang on a second, Prime Minister, we may have a problem with your phone. There you are. Sorry. There you are. Sorry, we lost you for a second there.
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry. I'm speaking at a conference this morning at Warwick Farm and it is a driver, for so long, Sydney's always looked towards the Harbour and looked towards the CBD. What this is doing with the airport, with Moorebank Intermodal, with this development in Western Sydney is to have Sydney looking outwards as well as inwards and creating high value jobs closer to where people live.
REUCASSEL: You're promising this money to buy the land now, but how far off is actually the train line? Are we talking 2040? We're talking 2050s? When would we actually see this?
PRIME MINISTER: I want it to be as soon as possible.
REUCASSEL: And what's that? 2040?
PRIME MINISTER: No, before then. What I would like to see is for the railway line, once it gets to Bradfield, to continue the work on. Continue on to Leppington and then continue on to link into Macarthur. But we'll have those discussions, we'll get the planning right. This is essentially the first stage in a multi-stage plan.
REUCASSEL: Now isn't this just about shoring up the seats of Macarthur and Werriwa? Wouldn't it make more sense in terms of the airport to use this money to link St Mary's and Tallawong so that tourists could actually catch a metro into the city? Isn't that the kind of first step we need to be looking at here?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we're doing that as well. And that's part of the announcement today is the business case is being developed for that project. It hasn't been completed yet. Once we receive the business case, it'll go to Infrastructure Australia - and that's part of today's announcement as well. What you need to do is to link up the north west, the south west with the airport, with right around into central Sydney as well. That's the way that you create a dynamic, vibrant, functioning city where people can work closer to where they live.
REUCASSEL: Now you're listening to 702 ABC Sydney. I'm speaking to Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Yesterday, some disappointing news on the tariff front. Industry Minister Ed Husic said the Trump tariffs are a dog act after over a century of friendship. Do you agree they're a dog act?
PRIME MINISTER: I use my own language. What I say is that this is not justified and it's a very disappointing decision. The United States have an ideological position. We're not being singled out here. The whole world is being hit with this tariff. And what a tariff does, of course, is put a higher price on goods that are bought. So Australian steel and Australian aluminium will still go to the United States, but it'll just cost them more. It is an act of self-harm and that is why we've put very strongly the argument to our American friends that Australia should be exempted. And part of the rationale there is threefold. One, that it hurts Americans. Two, that the products that we produce here do go to the United States, but double the amount come from the United States to Australia. So, the United States enjoys a trade surplus with Australia.
REUCASSEL: Although not last month were we had a trade surplus with them. Unfortunate timing, unfortunately.
PRIME MINISTER: That was a one off due to a massive purchase of gold.
REUCASSEL: There you go. Now you know you've chosen not to respond to Trump's tariffs with reciprocal tariffs, unlike Canada and Europe. So, what leverage will we use here? How do we leverage them to change this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the last time around it took many months of negotiations and lobbying in order to achieve an outcome. We'll continue to advocate over coming days and weeks, and if need be, months as well, to put our strong position. The United States has a range of decisions that it seeks from Australia as well. And we'll continue to negotiate in good faith in spite of the fact that this decision has been imposed. What we won't do is to punish Australians by lifting prices, which is what tariffs would do.
REUCASSEL: Yeah no, I understand and it was good to see that. And in terms of our text line, the kind of, in terms of the leverage that Australia has. On the text line, a popular option is, ‘Hi, we should retaliate to Trump's trade tariffs by cancelling AUKUS sub deal and save Australian taxpayers $300 billion. It's a no brainer’, says Michael. Have we considered that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the AUKUS deal stands by itself as a good deal for Australia. That's why we're doing it. We're not doing it as a favour. We're doing it as a way of best defending our island continent. When you have an island continent located where we are, then it makes sense to invest in your navy. And the best form of naval assets is submarines. And that is why we have gone down that route.
REUCASSEL: Well, we can buy them from France. I seem to believe that was an option in the past there. Now, the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton has said that he would be able to secure a deal. Here's Peter Dutton.
PETER DUTTON: Absolutely I believe that we can get a deal done with the Trump Administration because we will be a strong government that stands up for our national interests, that fights for our national interests and stands up for Australians, Australian jobs and Australian industry and economic growth in our country.
REUCASSEL: What's your response to Peter Dutton?
PRIME MINISTER: As the words come out of his mouth, he is undermining Australia's national interest. He had a choice yesterday of backing in the Trump Administration in this decision or backing Australia. He chose to not back Australia. He chose politics over substance.
REUCASSEL: I don't quite understand that argument. I heard that yesterday. How has he backed the Trump approach? He's just saying we'd be able to do a better deal, isn't he?
PRIME MINISTER: He's a cheer squad for them. He is never happier than when something goes against Australia. That's the truth of the matter. He should be acting in a bipartisan way, not engaging in the sort of activity we've seen from a guy who always just shoots from the hip, doesn't think about day two, just says things and then walks away from it. If this was Peter Dutton, he would have walked away and not done a press conference for five days. That would have been his response because that's what happens. When things get tough, Peter Dutton goes missing.
REUCASSEL: We heard this morning that people in Europe are turning American goods and products upside down on shelves. Do you think Australians should try and boycott US goods? Do you agree with that approach?
PRIME MINISTER: Part of our Budget will provide additional support for our Buy Australian campaign. And I would urge Australians, if they're in a local shop, to look to buy Australian. That's one way that consumers can assist to create jobs here and to support our local industries.
REUCASSEL: We hear that power prices are going to go up again this morning. What happened to your promise of bringing them down?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we know that there has been a global energy spike. That is just a fact. We also know that renewables are the cheapest form of new energy, and that Peter Dutton has a plan for $600 billion to be spent on nuclear power plants sometime in the 2040s. And they're going to be built in an earthquake zone in the Hunter, in a cyclone zone. It makes no economic sense whatsoever, which is why no private sector investor will go anywhere near it, which is why it's going to be taxpayer funds. And what that means is cuts to health, cuts to education, cuts to services, sacking of public service servants, a return to Robodebt. I mean, last week, in the middle of the natural disaster in Queensland and Northern NSW, Perin Davey, the Deputy Leader of the National Party, couldn't even say that she would rule out cuts to NEMA. To the body that is coordinating the national efforts when it comes to emergency management that's been established under my Government. So by definition, every employee at NEMA is a new employee.
REUCASSEL: All right. Thank you, Prime Minister. We're going to have to go. Just a lot of people suggesting you put the rent up at Pine Gap as well. Thank you for speaking to us, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Craig.