KYLE SANDILANDS, HOST: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good morning, Albo.
JACKIE O, HOST: How are you Albo?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Wonderful to be with you.
KYLE SANDILANDS: Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Happy New Year and all of that.
SANDILANDS: Thank you. Happy New year to you too, my friend.
JACKIE O: So, we were just talking about vapes, actually, and what your stance is on it.
SANDILANDS: You must be on the vape, aren't you? You're cool, you must have a little. Are you vaping or you're not into the vape?
PRIME MINISTER: No, certainly not.
SANDILANDS: Why not?
JACKIE O: Have you tried to puff a vape? Like give it a go?
PRIME MINISTER: Not slightly interested.
JACKIE O: Not even a little puff to see what everyone's going on about?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because it does nothing for you except damage your health. The real problem I have with it isn't adults making their own decisions. If they do that, that's fine. I am terribly worried about young people getting hooked, essentially, on nicotine having damage impact. And some of the vapes clearly aimed at, like with bubble gum flavour. What's that aimed at? It's aimed at getting really young people into a habit that is bad for their health.
JACKIE O: So, what are you going to do about it? Like, what actually is the Government doing?
SANDILANDS: Nothing, hopefully. Nothing.
PRIME MINISTER: No.
SANDILANDS: Giving us a broad warning. A broad warning. And it's up to the individual to decide.
PRIME MINISTER: No, well, of course it's up to individuals, but they should consult with their doctors on the basis of scripts. For some people vaping can, if a doctor says so, be a way of getting off nicotine, off tobacco. We need people to live longer. I want you to live longer.
PRODUCER: Can I ask.
SANDILANDS: It's not worth living longer. I've found.
PRODUCER: Prime Minister, can I ask.
SANDILANDS: The older you get the worse life is.
PRODUCER: Anthony Albanese, can I ask you, why is it that when someone turns 18, they can go and legally buy a packet of cigarettes, but you don't want them to be able to legally buy vapes.
PRIME MINISTER: Because vapes were set up to be basically a way of getting off nicotine.
PRODUCER: So, why not ban cigarettes?
SANDILANDS: Well that’s ridiculous.
JACKIE O: Hang on, he didn't ask you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's a range of things that are bad for you –
PRODUCER: Well you're banning vapes.
PRIME MINISTER: We're not banning them. We're saying that you need a script for them.
SANDILANDS: Right.
PRIME MINISTER: And we're also banning, cracking down on, not just on vapes, but the sort of chop shops that we're seeing where we have tobacco, illegal, goodness knows what's in it, being sold as well in various shops, and there is a crackdown on it, and that's the right thing to do to apply the law.
JACKIE O: So, there's a crackdown happening, is there?
PRIME MINISTER: There is indeed, because there's a lot of illegal tobacco and vapes being sold around and we need to crack down on that.
JACKIE O: No doctor is going to prescribe you vapes.
SANDILANDS: That’s not true
PRIME MINISTER: But they do Jackie.
JACKIE O: Most doctors I speak to say they're worse than cigarettes.
SANDILANDS: Go to Nimbin, get the right doctor up at Nimbin.
JACKIE O: They say they're worse than cigarettes.
SANDILANDS: They don't know.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're not good for you. And I would encourage your listeners to not smoke or vape.
SANDILANDS: Well, what are we going to do?
PRODUCER: See, some people, Prime Minister would say that the Government is just addicted to the tax it gets from cigarettes and you want to push people onto legal -
SANDILANDS: If that was the case, they'd be taxing everything like vapes.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s exactly right. You're onto us Kyle, you're answering for me. Well done.
SANDILANDS: Yeah, I probably shouldn't do that. Since you're here. You probably know more than I know. By the way, we had Dutton on the other day, because remember how he was carrying on about people not going to Woolies. And then I asked him, is he going to buy the Australia Day thongs? And he said, no, he would never buy those thongs. And I thought, you shouldn't encourage a group of people to boycott a private company. Aren't people, like, got shares in that with superannuation and all that sort of. You can't just get the rag on with Woolies and go, yeah, don't go there.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's absurd. And it was a thought bubble from him. There's 200,000 people work at Woolies. Now, do all of those people lose their jobs? Yeah, they do if the boycott worked. Then they'd be all out of work and along with Kmart and Aldi and everything else. I mean, for goodness sake. The bloke is from the so called free market party. To call for a boycott of a major Australian employer is absurd. And it's not clear. I don't know if you asked him or not, but it's not clear whether it ends on January 26 or goes to January 30. When does it end?
SANDILANDS: Yeah, about Australia Day. I know you're in this position as the Prime Minister where you're supposed to care for all of us like your children, but we all know, even in our own families, there's the special children, the ones that the parents really love, and then there's kids like me who they can take or leave those kids. So, what do you do in this situation? How do you please everyone that wants to celebrate Australia Day? Because it's only less than 20 per cent of people who have an issue with it. So, the 80 per cent of us, we just want to enjoy and be proud of this wonderful country, but we feel a bit of a shame and we should pass some thought to those who don't enjoy it or feel triggered by it. But how do we enjoy Australia Day without feeling like we're a gronk wearing an Australia flag around our neck? How do we enjoy it?
PRIME MINISTER: I think you just put it, Kyle. We respect people who have a different view, particularly for Aboriginal people, it can be a very difficult day. But we celebrate who we are as a nation, what we've become, all of it. The fullness of our history, the 65,000 years of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth, all the people who've come since and made Australia their home. We celebrate citizenship ceremonies I always think are fantastic. Look, I will go to the Australia Day awards and to the national flag raising ceremony and the national citizenship ceremony. I'm hoping that Peter Dutton comes to Canberra this year and participates in the national events because -
SANDILANDS: Does he not go sometimes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, he didn't go last year and I'm hoping that he does go this year to the national event. That's something that I did as Opposition Leader.
SANDILANDS: Hang on. So, you're so busy you don't want to just kick your feet up and get on it on Australia Day with the missus?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it's a big workday. I will do all of that in Canberra and then I'll come up to Sydney and I will go to the Australia Day concert. I'm not sure who's playing, but it's always a good event there at the Opera House forecourt. And it's a day when we reflect, from my perspective, I understand some people find it a difficult day, but from my perspective, it's an opportunity for us to think about how we can make the greatest country on earth even greater and it's a really positive thing.
JACKIE O: Can we do something like, obviously changing the date is a big deal, right. And that is a massive deal.
SANDILANDS: Never change.
JACKIE O: But is there a way we can maybe do something like we do with Anzac Day, where we have a ceremony in the morning, we pay our respects, but then we celebrate during the day with Anzac Day. And people died for our country and so we do the two things where we honour those, but we also are able to celebrate. Do you think that that would appease some people?
SANDILANDS: I think she’s fixed the problem, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: I think that's one of the things that we do, Jackie, one of my experiences, both at local citizenship ceremonies and at the national one, the first thing that I'll do on Australia Day is go to a welcome to country with the Governor General.
JACKIE O: Do they happen, I don't hear of them happening anywhere.
SANDILANDS: They're happening everywhere, Jackie.
PRIME MINISTER: Every citizenship ceremony I go to, there'll be a welcome to country -
SANDILANDS: They’ve got the smoke -
PRIME MINISTER: Which is a positive thing and it is a chance for us to reflect on the fullness of our history -
SANDILANDS: Have you ever thought that those welcome to ceremonies that smoke may also be causing problems, like the vapes and the cigarettes or is that allowed?
PRIME MINISTER: You're not breathing it in in the same way, Kyle.
SANDILANDS: I saw them with the feather and the smelling. I actually quite enjoyed the welcome ceremony. I don't like it on every TV show and every plane. I think it's overused, but when it's done properly with the dance and the tradition, it's quite a beautiful thing to witness.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. And the didgeridoo is such a wonderful instrument and so unique and to have the dancing and that culture and recognise something that's very ancient and has been passed down, I think it's a positive thing.
SANDILANDS: Me too.
PRIME MINISTER: But this great country essentially has three phases. One is the 65,000 years of Indigenous history. Then there is the arrival of the First Fleet and the colonies and British arrival here. The third is new migrants coming, particularly in the post war period, to make Australia their home. And what will happen at the citizenship ceremony, I got a little list the other day, there are people from every continent in the world getting their citizenship at the national ceremony.
SANDILANDS: It's such a proud day for them.
PRIME MINISTER: It's fantastic. It's a great thing that they're pledging their loyalty to Australia. They're joining our team and that's a great thing.
SANDILANDS: It is. Our boss here, he's one of those over 250,000 a year types and he's saying, he heard a sniff this morning that he might be cut out of the tax cuts. And I said, no, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure everyone's getting some sort of cut. What's the latest on that? Because you're having a meeting on the cost of living today. A crisis meeting.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not that we're having a normal meeting. We had a meeting last week as well. The papers do like to –
SANDILANDS: Make up things -
PRIME MINISTER: Hyperventilate a little bit about these things -
SANDILANDS: So you're ripping off the high end town?
PRIME MINISTER: We're having a meeting. I support tax cuts and everyone will be getting a tax cut.
SANDILANDS: Me too. Will I get one?
PRIME MINISTER: You will always be looked after, Kyle, because I know that you're struggling.
SANDILANDS: Yeah. People laugh but I'm on the highest tax bracket there is. The highest.
PRIME MINISTER: That's because you're one of the highest earners Kyle, that’s a good thing.
SANDILANDS: I don’t mind, I think paying your fair share, that's fine. I don't actually mind tax.
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. Look, what we need to do across the board, what we're doing is looking at how we can help lower and middle income earners. Middle Australia particularly, is doing it really tough. People have a mortgage, so we're looking at ways in which we can provide assistance to them. We did that last year with a range of measures. People are benefiting from cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, the energy price relief plan. But we're looking at other ways as well. Are there other ways that we can provide support for people?
SANDILANDS: I've come up with an idea. What about a gap year for all bills, for all citizens? One whole year. No bills.
PRIME MINISTER: That might have a little bit of an impact on inflation, I think.
SANDILANDS: But people would be spending, spending, spending. No electricity, no rent, no mortgage, no petrol, no electricity.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll might put your suggestion to the Cabinet. I'll see how that goes. I'm not confident that. The Kyle doctrine -
SANDILANDS: The Kyle-enomics, we’re calling it.
PRIME MINISTER: Maybe we can get you to come and address the Cabinet, Kyle. That'd be good.
SANDILANDS: There's no guarantee I'd show on the day. You know what I'm like.
PRIME MINISTER: Of course you would.
SANDILANDS: Also, Peter, we told Peter Dutton the other day, remember he bitched, that you came to the wedding and he said, no, no, I had no problem with that. He lied.
PRIME MINISTER: Unbelievable. He just sent people out there bagging us. They spent days bagging us, as you know, before, during and after.
SANDILANDS: I know. I was very upset at that.
PRIME MINISTER: And can I just say this? I went to a wedding on Saturday and I love going to weddings. They're just fantastic. They're two people expressing their love for each other. And in your case, it was three, because you were expressing your little Otto as well.
SANDILANDS: When will you express your ultimate love to Jodie? I believe enough’s enough here. You know like, Mary, she's the new queen over there. Like, if she'd have just been a girlfriend, she would never have been queen. Did you ring Mary and Frederick and say, what up, girl? Look at you. You're the queen.
PRIME MINISTER: We sent her a lovely present. I think we were here talking about, what do we do? What do you do for the king and queen? Do you send them a candlesticks or do you send them something there. So, what we came up with was donating money to help protect the Tassie devil in Tasmania.
JACKIE O: That's actually good, that's a good idea.
PRIME MINISTER: To one of the wildlife groups down there that look after the little Tassie devil. And so I thought it was quite a nice thing. And we got a message back from the Danes, not from Queen Mary herself. She was probably off on a honeymoon, but that they appreciated it. So, I think we should all be proud of Queen Mary.
SANDILANDS: We are. Now back to the original question. Are you putting a ring on that missus or not? You got to have a plan, you can’t just leave her flapping around.
PRIME MINISTER: What I am not doing is discussing my relationship on Kyle and Jackie O.
SANDILANDS: Why?
JACKIE O: Who else are you going to discuss it with?
SANDILANDS: Saving it for bloody Ben Fordham?
PRIME MINISTER: Maybe discussing it with us is the important thing. The parties involved. You didn't consult me on the wedding.
SANDILANDS: No, no, that's true.
PRIME MINISTER: You just told me it was happening. Gave me an invite, I gave a commitment I'd come and I certainly did. And I enjoyed it. I loved meeting your mum.
SANDILANDS: She thought you were wonderful.
PRIME MINISTER: We sat next to each other at the wedding.
SANDILANDS: Thought you were the ducks nuts. She loved ya.
PRIME MINISTER: She was delightful.
JACKIE O: Has an Australian Prime Minister ever gotten married before whilst being Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't think so, but I'll get my peeps to research. You can research that. You've got an army of researchers.
JACKIE O: Yeah, get onto it guys. And would there be protocol involved? Like in terms of, can you just do your own thing? Or would you have to do a certain style of wedding and invite certain people?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think these things are all private. I'm entitled to a private life –
SANDILANDS: No you’re not
PRIME MINISTER: As much as you're trying to discuss it completely on national radio.
SANDILANDS: The only privacy you have is in the toilet.
JACKIE O: It's like Big Brother, you got the toilet and the rest is for us.
SANDILANDS: Yeah. Even in the shower we should have a little looky loo I reckon. Listen, Albo, good luck on the meetings. I think you're doing a fantastic job. I don't know what Natalie Barr's problem is. She's always seemed to be bitching about you over at Sunrise. But she seems nice. You don't have an issue with Nat do you?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no. She's fine.
SANDILANDS: What's her issue then? It's always on the Daily Mail. Natalie rips Albo. Oh, Natalie has a problem with Albo.
PRODUCER: She is a journalist, Kyle.
SANDILANDS: But do you always have to take the wrong angle? Can't you just be a nice journalist every now and then? Give a guy some props for his good work.
PRIME MINISTER: I try to be nice to people. I'm nice to Nat. I go on the show. It's a pretty good show. I don't mind morning TV.
SANDILANDS: Oh is that right?
PRIME MINISTER: I used to be a regular, but now I'm a regular here.
SANDILANDS: I prefer you here.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, so do I. Next time I've got to be in the studio.
JACKIE O: I thought you were going to come in today, actually.
SANDILANDS: Did you?
JACKIE O: Yeah.
SANDILANDS: What made you think that?
JACKIE O: I don't know. Just you usually do.
SANDILANDS: Wishful thinking.
JACKIE O: Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER: Here in Canberra, where it's raining, actually. Had to go out, Toto, this morning, out there on the lawns there. Had to go out.
SANDILANDS: Watch him back one out in the morning. I do that too.
PRIME MINISTER: Pick it up in the rain as you do. The job of Prime Minister is never done.
SANDILANDS: You don't have a gardener to pick it. I've got Jorge here picking up the dog shit. You don't have that?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I'm old school. My dog, my responsibility.
SANDILANDS: I've always thought, and I've told a ranger this before, when a possum picks up its own faeces with a bag, then I'll be picking up my dogs. Other than that it can just, remember in the old days, you'd hit a dog poo with a mower and it was white, it would disintegrate into dust.
JACKIE O: Yeah. I feel like our parents just left them to be, like, to go white.
SANDILANDS: That's right.
JACKIE O: That's how long they sat there for.
SANDILANDS: Now you don't see one ever, which is lovely. I don't know why we're talking Albo about this.
PRIME MINISTER: Now we've descended into dog poop. I might go talk about the economy.
SANDILANDS: You go and sort everyone's life out. Appreciate you Prime Minister.
JACKIE O: Thank you Prime Minister.
SANDILANDS: Have a good day. Say hi to Jodie.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, guys will do.