CRAIG REUCASSEL, HOST: We have the Prime Minister on the line, bring him up now. Morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Craig. Good to be with you. Good to be in Parramatta.
REUCASSEL: Good to be with you. Yes, joining us in Parramatta. So, your press conference you’re about to speak about, the National Cabinet last night, what do you think was achieved by that?
PRIME MINISTER: What was achieved was signalling that the entire nation, all of our leaders, are united in opposing antisemitism. We agreed to have a national register of antisemitic incidents as well as, of course, some of these incidents are crimes and should be called out for what they are. But also New South Wales and Victoria will take the lead in having coordination across state and territory governments because they are both strengthening legislation which is primarily state based legislation. But in addition to that, we've already got Federal legislation which has passed the House of Representatives, before the Senate, when the Senate resumes.
REUCASSEL: Now, in terms of the discussion that was had, you were briefed by the Federal Police Chief, Reece Kershaw, who brought up this suggestion that maybe overseas actors were paying for criminals to undertake these antisemitic attacks. And it suggests it could have been paid for in crypto. There was a lot of conjecture in this. Is there actually any evidence of this or is this is just something they are looking into? It felt like a reach for a headline. I don't know if there's anything underneath it.
PRIME MINISTER: It certainly wasn't that. And we've been briefed on a regular basis, of course, by the AFP and by Operation Avalite that we've established to coordinate the AFP, our security and intelligence agencies, including ASIO and state and territory police leaders. And without compromising any of the police investigations, which of course are ongoing, it was important to get more information and transparency out there. The AFP Commissioner Kershaw decided to do that yesterday, just as yesterday morning the acting New South Wales Police Commissioner outlined the fact that so many people have been arrested, charged and are currently in the clink because they've been denied bail. It was important to counter a message out there that action wasn't being taken. These investigations are occurring, including into incidents obviously in New South Wales, but also the Adass Synagogue in Melbourne.
REUCASSEL: You've had Operation Avalite working for a while here. We seem to see an escalation at the moment in antisemitic attacks as we're heading towards, you know, well, a ceasefire in the Middle East. Do you have any understanding of what's leading to this increase? What is driving this? I mean, the Opposition's obviously criticised the position of the Government in terms of, that's led to an environment that's led to this. But what is your understanding of why we're seeing more of this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, these are hate crimes and we shouldn't deny the agency of the perpetrators of these crimes. And that's what suggesting that Australia's policy at the United Nations, where we've voted along with 158 countries for what is happening now, a ceasefire, hostages being released and increased aid into Gaza. It is important to recognise that that is overwhelmingly where the world has been, including all of our Five Eyes partners, with the exception of the United States, for some period of time. These are criminal activities. There is substantial evidence as outlined by Commissioner Kershaw yesterday evening as well.
REUCASSEL: In terms of that, I mean, the ceasefire seems to be holding at the moment. Your Government has been very vocal into calling for a two-state solution. Do you see any way ahead for that, given the devastation that we've seen in Gaza?
PRIME MINISTER: I do. This has been a bipartisan position for a long period of time in Australia. John Howard spoke about the need to resolve the Palestinian question, as he put it when he was Prime Minister two decades ago now. And this has gone on for a long period of time. We need to examine what a two state solution looks like. And it's the right of Israel to exist within secure borders. There can't be ongoing threats to Israel's security. But it also is the right, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to have control over their destiny, to live in conditions which also have peace and security. Part of that would be a recognition throughout the region, for example, Saudi Arabia and other nations recognising Israel. There would need to be, of course, no role for Hamas in the governance of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
REUCASSEL: This is the thing, this is it though, despite the fact that there's been the war, we saw Hamas out in strength on the streets once the ceasefire was actually called for. So, it certainly hasn't rid Gaza of Hamas at this point.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we need is a political solution. And clearly countries in the region also have an important role to play. And those issues were being talked through by the former Secretary of State, Mr Blinken, in his visits to the Middle East. I certainly have had discussions with the US last year, including President Biden, about the resolution of these issues to create a sustainable peace in the region, I think is what everyone wants to see. Australians want to see two things. They want to see an end to conflict in the Middle East. And the other thing they want to see is they don't want conflict brought here from overseas into our harmonious, multicultural society. They want people to be given respect. And that is what certainly my Government is striving for.
REUCASSEL: Final question, Prime Minister. We've had a bit of a surprise today. We found out that the ball kids at the Australian Open aren't getting paid. As a union man yourself, do you think the ball kids should be getting a wage?
PRIME MINISTER: I reckon I've spoken to some of the ball kids in the past. They're pretty wrapped to be with their heroes. So, I think if I was a young kid when I was a junior at Marrickville Hardcourt Tennis Club, I would have dreamed of having the opportunity to get that close to my heroes. I think we do need a little bit of common sense here.
REUCASSEL: Okay, all right, all right. The Prime Minister's coming out against ball kids. Thank you for speaking to us, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: No, not coming out. Just recognising that not everything in life is about dollars.
REUCASSEL: Exactly. All right, thanks, Prime Minister.