MATT ACTON, HOST: This is Brisbane's B105. Stav, Abby and Matt. Look who's here, the one and only.
(jingle plays)
ACTON: Anthony Albanese, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. I know you’re sister stations now, because they play that as well.
ACTON: Oh do they?
PRIME MINISTER: They do, they do.
ACTON: Is Stav singing, or have they resung it?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve heard that before. I don't know how they do it.
STAV DAVIDSON, HOST: My royalties.
ABBY COLEMAN, HOST: Are we the most low key radio station or show that you come to?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, you're pretty cool, you're pretty laidback. I've got a coffee this morning. We've taken photos, done TikToks, all sorts of stuff.
ACTON: Are the others boring, though? Like what happens when you go to a talkback one? Do they come out and say hello to you and be really nice, and then you sit down at the microphone and they're really awful?
PRIME MINISTER: And they're into you.
ACTON: Is that how it works?
PRIME MINISTER: No, by and large, people, including their persona, off air is nicer than on air sometimes. So sometimes you get these fierce interviewers which are really kind and gentle off air. It’s part of the persona.
COLEMAN: We can do that if you want though. Because we want to go into talkback, don't we?
ACTON: Yeah, I just.
PRIME MINISTER: You don’t want to go down that road.
COLEMAN: Yeah, yeah, we are. We're going to be bitter.
PRIME MINISTER: I actually think no one wants bitter in the morning.
DAVIDSON: Unless it’s coffee.
ACTON: But that's the thing, isn't it? Like once you go to talkback, everything has to make you angry.
DAVIDSON: That's true.
ACTON: Like, whether you love it, it has to make you angry.
PRIME MINISTER: Which is a problem. It's a problem with society, I think, too. It feeds into sometimes that negativity and people always have to be up against each other and conflict.
COLEMAN: That's what I feel like we've created at the moment. And, like, this is not a hard-hitting question, but after the Budget, it really has become a bit of a like, who has and who doesn't, you know? It's landlords versus the renters and it's people on welfare versus people that are working. And after the Budget, there was a lot of people that I guess have done so much public speaking about how the welfare hasn't been enough, and then that's created other people to go, well, you're a dole bludger. And I don't think they are a dole bludger, they're just set up with the system. But do you think we've become like, a culture of the government should help everyone, rather than just the government should help the most vulnerable?
PRIME MINISTER: Well some of the language, there was a headline in one of the papers using the term ‘dole bludger’, which is really, pretty disrespectful of people who are out of work and who are doing their best and doing it tough. And we had a modest increase in the Budget, $40 a fortnight, but it will make a bit of a difference. You can't do everything. So, we targeted assistance to the most vulnerable, and we were told, ‘oh, well, what about other people missing out?’ Well, if you're a single parent, if you're getting rental assistance, if you're getting JobSeeker, then you did get additional assistance in the Budget. And it is, my government's priority was to look after the vulnerable but to try and look after everyone.
COLEMAN: Oh my god, I’m so sorry.
ACTON: Is that your phone? That’s a carton of beer, what do you drink, Albo?
COLEMAN: My phone just went off. What do you drink?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, beer. Wet beer.
DAVIDSON: I love that. Perfect answer.
COLEMAN: I love that. Can I please have some wet beer for the Prime Minister, a carton? Oh, how embarrassing. So if my phone goes off, you’ve got to get everyone a carton of beer.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m pretty easy. What's a good Queensland beer? Balter’s pretty good.
COLEMAN: XXXX?
DAVIDSON: XXXX would probably be the…
PRIME MINISTER: Balter’s pretty good.
DAVIDSON: On a longer time frame, I know you've got a lot more pressing matters to go on, but something I'm keeping an eye on at the moment. How concerned is the Australian Government at the moment about AI and the weaponisation of AI?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, we've got to be really careful that we don't take humans out of humanity, basically.
COLEMAN: Until you can tax computers.
PRIME MINISTER: And AI can be fantastic, it can improve efficiency, improve our lives, but we need to make sure that we're in control. And there's a lot of research going on. Part of the problem with social media, we were talking before about people getting angry, is that part of the way that the algorithms work with AI is it pushes people into more extreme views. And it'll keep going up and up in order to get the clicks. And I was at Stanford Uni with people who were experts in the US, at Facebook, people who worked, were executives, and they were expressing concern about the algorithms and what it does to public debate, to public discourse. You know, life is full of grey. Not everything is black and white.
DAVIDSON: That’s true.
PRIME MINISTER: And AI can push people towards that as well. That's just one example.
ACTON: There's a very good chance as well, I know you're a rugby league man. You were the random Souths guy at the King's Coronation.
COLEMAN: You were wearing the socks.
ACTON: You had the socks on.
PRIME MINISTER: I was wearing the socks. I didn't expect anyone to see it. It was game day. It was Magic Round here in Brisbane.
ACTON: Yeah it was, fair enough.
COLEMAN: Did Jodi know that you were wearing? Because I have to say, Jodi looked absolutely amazing. Her outfit, just gorgeous.
PRIME MINISTER: I think she looked pretty fantastic too.
COLEMAN: Did she know you were wearing the socks?
PRIME MINISTER: She did. That's how we met, through Souths.
ACTON: At a game?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I was at a dinner in Melbourne. And she was, someone sledged me in introducing me as Labor Leader to give this speech, and said, ‘you know, he's a good bloke. Only got one thing wrong with him, he goes for Souths’. And I said, ‘there's always a random Souths guy out there’. And it was Jodi, put her hand up. And that's how we met.
ACTON: How good.
PRIME MINISTER: South Sydney, bringing Australians together.
ACTON: Just a thought, because there's a chance, touchwood, if everything keeps going well, it could be a Brisbane Broncos-Dolphins Grand Final. Surely it's got to move up here to Brisbane?
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on. You imply that there's any chance that Souths won't be in the Grand Final?
ACTON: Yes, 100 per cent.
PRIME MINISTER: We beat both of them.
DAVIDSON: Yeah, he’s got you there.
PRIME MINISTER: I say that bravely in a Brisbane radio studio.
COLEMAN: I was going to say.
ACTON: I’m going to have to bring out my talkback version of myself.
PRIME MINISTER: We gave you Adam Reynolds, come on. We've been very good.
ACTON: No he wanted to come here.
PRIME MINISTER: And Wayne Bennett for the Dolphins. How well are the Dolphins going? It is so good.
ACTON: It’s so good, I’m really enjoying it.
PRIME MINISTER: It is really, really good. I've tipped them this week to do over Melbourne.
COLEMAN: Who are you in the tipping with?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm in the Courier Mail-Daily Telegraph one. So, I've done pretty well the last couple of weeks. I was having a shocker before then. I tip with my heart a lot.
ACTON: Yeah, that is a problem.
PRIME MINISTER: And I want the Dolphins to win against the Storm. So go Dolphins.
ACTON: All right. Well, there we go. It will move here to Suncorp Stadium, the Grand Final, if it's two Queensland teams, the Prime Minister will make that happen. I like to hear it.
PRIME MINISTER: I actually think it should happen if there's two Queensland teams. That makes sense.
COLEMAN: Absolutely. I've always said that about the AFL as well, but.
ACTON: Yeah, we can dream and hope.
PRIME MINISTER: I think Dolphins-Broncos, is a better chance than Lions and Suns. I think it’s a better chance.
COLEMAN: I was going to kick you out if you said Brisbane Lions, that's my beloved.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to just put it out there that I think that’s a better chance.
COLEMAN: Although can I just say, the game is going to be amazing this weekend at the Gabba. So, please buy a ticket between the Broncos and the Suns.
DAVIDSON: The Broncos and the Suns?
COLEMAN: Oh sorry, the Lions and the Suns.
PRIME MINISTER: That'd be interesting, the Broncos and the Suns.
DAVIDSON: I'd watch that one.
ACTON: When we come back, we have our brown snakes. I'm sure you've heard about it. We have got Allen’s to make up some brown snakes.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm looking out at them now, I’m looking out at a beautiful brown snake down there.
ACTON: We've got three flavours. You are going to be the very first person on planet Earth to taste test.
PRIME MINISTER: This is a big responsibility.
DAVIDSON: Yes, it is.
ACTON: Bigger than running the country.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's up there. I’ll say that.
ACTON: Stand by. We'll do it next.
(break)
JINGLE: Stav wants a brown snake. Oh, Matty wants a brown snake. Abby wants a brown snake. Oh, Brissy wants a brown snake, snake, snake.
ACTON: And a brown snake we are going to get.
COLEMAN: Yes, we wanted to get the lolly, you know, it represents the Brisbane River. There is every colour in there, but we're like, there's no brown. Why is there no brown?
PRIME MINISTER: How did you get George Michael to do the vocals?
COLEMAN: He loves the brown snake.
DAVIDSON: We had a séance.
ACTON: He recorded it years ago because he knew.
PRIME MINISTER: He was ahead of his time.
COLEMAN: So Allen’s lollies, we first went to them and they were like, ‘if you get enough interest for it,’ and then they came back and said, ‘look, we're going to do a small run for it,’ they said, ‘but you need to pick the flavour first.’ So, they have sent us three bags that we have in a safe.
PRIME MINISTER: They are in a safe here.
COLEMAN: It is cola, chocolate and coffee.
DAVIDSON: Yes. Now, you will be the first person ever to taste any of these flavours, if you can get the safe open.
PRIME MINISTER: It's open.
COLEMAN: So, you're going to have to try one of each. I know you're in a bit of a...
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve got to try one of each.
COLEMAN: You're on a bit of a health kick these days aren’t you?
ACTON: You can just have a bite, and then we'll eat the half you don't eat.
COLEMAN: I was actually reading that your health kick was after you had the car accident?
PRIME MINISTER: It was.
COLEMAN: And you just thought, wait a minute?
PRIME MINISTER: It started a bit beforehand.
ACTON: He’s cutting the bag.
PRIME MINISTER: We were doing a walk in Tasmania. We did Three Capes, which was fantastic. So, I got a little bit fit.
ACTON: That’s three mountains right?
PRIME MINISTER: Three around the coast, down south. It’s fantastic. But having a head-on car accident tends to make you think about where things will go.
DAVIDSON: Okay so what flavour is this?
PRIME MINISTER: Here’s cola.
DAVIDSON: Cola.
PRIME MINISTER: Down it goes. I'm not sure how chewing snakes goes on radio.
COLEMAN: Well I’ve got to be honest, you're supposed to chew with your mouth open. We spoke to a taste expert yesterday, and they said that gets the flavour. And in between, you’ve got to have like a sip of soda water to cleanse the palate. This is not a joke, we spoke to a taste expert.
PRIME MINISTER: That was good.
DAVIDSON: That was good?
PRIME MINISTER: Cola was good.
DAVIDSON: Great review.
ACTON: God, you would have been to some, because you've been to a lot of lunches and stuff, you would have had to have eaten some horrible meals in your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the good things about being on a reasonably strict diet that I'm breaking here, is you can just leave food and say, ‘oh that’s the diet.’
COLEMAN: We can't do that. We try, but we love our food.
PRIME MINISTER: ‘That’s the diet’. Sorry, can't do more rubber chicken.
DAVIDSON: Could always do a George Bush and just retch in the... Remember that?
COLEMAN: What did he do?
DAVIDSON: He was at a diplomatic dinner. He threw up on the, I think the envoy for Japan.
ACTON: Hungover was he?
COLEMAN: Which one was that one? What was that?
PRIME MINISTER: The coffee’s not very coffee.
DAVIDSON: Okay, all right.
COLEMAN: We're not allowed to try it.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yes it is. It kicks in afterwards. The aftertaste kicks in of the coffee.
DAVIDSON: Alright.
COLEMAN: Did you like the aftertaste?
PRIME MINISTER: Not really, and I'm a coffee fan. But here comes chocolate.
DAVIDSON: This is my favourite. I think it's going to taste like a Cheeky Baby.
PRIME MINISTER: It does a bit. It does a bit.
DAVIDSON: Out of those three, though, what's the PM's pick?
ACTON: Hang on, let's not rip off the band-aid. Let's take a moment to really think about here, because we're going to take all these votes.
PRIME MINISTER: Where’s the aniseed version?
DAVIDSON: That's what she wants.
COLEMAN: Do you like black cats?
PRIME MINISTER: I love black cats.
COLEMAN: Me too!
DAVIDSON: You just want a vote.
PRIME MINISTER: I love black cats.
COLEMAN: I should have held my excitement in there.
PRIME MINISTER: Black cats are my thing.
COLEMAN: Yeah, same.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, because it refreshes your mouth.
COLEMAN: It's like the aniseed, I’m like, who doesn’t like it?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s just great.
ACTON: Do you drink Sambuca as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah.
COLEMAN: Yeah, see I love Sambuca and Ouzo.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah, with the little coffee bean in it and you light it. Now we're talking. We could do that next time I'm in the studio.
DAVIDSON: Sambuca shot?
COLEMAN: What are you doing next week?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m in.
ACTON: Anthony Albanese, you've tried cola, you've tried the Cheeky flavour, you've tried coffee. Your vote goes to?
PRIME MINISTER: D, aniseed. But if I have to, if I have to, cola.
DAVIDSON: Okay, cola it is.
COLEMAN: Cola!
DAVIDSON: One vote for cola. There you go.
ACTON: Cola. You can't just add, like I can't on voting day just put my name on the ballot.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I can. I’m the Prime Minister, I can. You’ve got to have some power and influence, don't you?
ACTON: Mate, thank you so much for coming in. Great to see you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, guys. Great to see you.