HOST: Where are you today, Albo?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Today, I've been in Adelaide, Hobart and I've just landed back in Sydney. Yesterday, I was in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.
HOST: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: And the day before I was at Uluru and Port Lincoln. So, it's been a very busy time.
HOST: I mean, Prime Minister, what do you like, are you a coffee man? What keeps you going?
PRIME MINISTER: I have to have my, at least, one coffee. But if I'm going to do true confessions here, it's usually more than one coffee in the morning to keep me going.
HOST: You're on this show on a Friday. Generally, we have a beer in a coffee cup. So, you're allowed to say you have two coffees.
PRIME MINISTER: That's a Friday afternoon, it's after four. Beer o'clock comes earlier on a Friday, doesn't it?
HOST: Endorsed by the PM, bosses. Endorsed. Can I just ask quickly, because we'll get onto serious matters in a sec. But who's got Toto when you're never at home?
PRIME MINISTER: I have a shared custody system with that little dog. So, some of the time she's at my ex's, Carmel's. And most of the time she's with me when I'm around. But when I'm travelling, then Toto, she has lots of volunteers as puppy sitters, let me tell you. And she's happy with whoever she's with, as long as they're feeding her and giving her cuddles.
HOST: Although I did see the footage of you playing cricket with Fitzy and Wippa and Kate the other day. But also because Toto just followed you around that whole game. When I played last year -
PRIME MINISTER: I reckon I should get two for every run. Because it is me and Toto both running up and back.
HOST: Didn't do Melania Trump, didn't we all think she had a body double?
HOST: Maybe our Prime Minister's dog has a body double.
HOST: Hot demand.
HOST: So, you are not commenting on that, I get that. That's fine.
PRIME MINISTER: She's one of a kind. She, of course, doesn't know, like a lot of dogs, doesn't know that she's a dog.
HOST: Just like my dog.
PRIME MINISTER: She's a person.
HOST: So, where are you going to be for tomorrow, Albo? What's your day look like tomorrow, referendum day?
PRIME MINISTER: Tomorrow, I'll start off in my electorate. And then I'm travelling to Wollongong. I'm doing some booths there. And then I'm travelling to Canberra. So, it's going to be a very busy day. And one I sincerely hope that Australians do vote for what's a really simple proposition, just asking for recognition in our Constitution of the fact that people were here before 1788 and we've got that 65,000 years of history. The oldest continuous culture on earth should be a source of great pride. And then it's simply a non-binding advisory committee. That's all the Voice is. The opportunity to listen to Indigenous Australians about matters that affect them. Because that's how you get better results. If you talk to people who are impacted by policies, you'll get better outcomes.
HOST: Is that the one thing you'd say to those that are still, at this point, undecided?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd say two things. One is there's absolutely nothing to fear here. And there's been a whole range of the fear campaigns is all about things that aren't to do with the referendum, which to me shows there's no weakness in what's actually being put forward. It is legally sound. It's a clear proposition. And secondly, is that this hasn't come from politicians. This is a gracious request from Indigenous Australians who met at Uluru in a constitutional convention in 2017, after more than five years of consultations and meetings involving thousands of people. 250 delegates came together there. And they asked in the Uluru Statement for Australians to take this action, as the Uluru Statement says, to overcome the torment of powerlessness of them being alienated from their own country and being able to be heard. And we know that we're living in No today. And we know there's an eight-year life expectancy gap. There's a greater chance of an Indigenous young male going to jail than going to university. Twice the suicide rate. Twice the chance of a young woman who's Indigenous dying in childbirth. We can do better than this. And this offers hope and optimism for the future. It's a request from Indigenous Australians to us. And it won't impact 97 per cent of Australians won't be impacted by this at all.
HOST: That's what I always think too. Like, I'm like, obviously, I care. But when you think that 80 per cent of the Indigenous population want this, surely that's all I need to know.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's right. It won't impact you or me directly, our lives. It won't affect directly my son's life.
HOST: No.
PRIME MINISTER: What it will do, though, is provide opportunity for Indigenous Australians. And if we're not going to recognise them in our nation's birth certificate, basically, now, when are we going to get around to doing it? Every other former colony in the world has done that. So, I really hope –
HOST: You know referendums don't have a good track record, right. And obviously, the polls are all real Debbie Downers. But you've been actually out there, you've just listed all the places you've been. What are you feeling the result will be tomorrow? Like, genuinely, after speaking to everybody from literally every corner of Australia, what are you feeling?
PRIME MINISTER: I feel that people who I've spoken about in, and I have been in every state and territory in the land in the last week, people I've spoken to who look at the question overwhelmingly say Yes. There's no reason to vote No, unless you say, 'Yep, this is as good as it gets, everything's fine'. You know, I respect that people will make their own decisions. And some people might say you should never change the Constitution. I've met a couple of people who've said that. That's fine. That's a decision to be made. But this is a once in a generation chance. This is the first referendum we've had this century, literally. And, you know, it mightn't come around again. And it's about showing respect. But the other thing I'd say is that remember when we had the Apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008. There was this big fear campaign then too that it was going to result in all these consequences. Marriage equality was going to mean that people would marry the Harbour Bridge.
HOST: You know, I did propose to the Harbour Bridge, and I'm still waiting on my response from the bridge, from the coat hanger.
HOST: You would make a good couple.
PRIME MINISTER: There were fear campaigns when women were given a vote, which the first place that happened, of course, was in South Australia, where I was this morning. You know, there was a campaign then that sounded very similar to the campaign now. 'Some women don't support it'. Yep, that was true at the time. But overwhelmingly, they did. Like overwhelmingly Indigenous Australians do now. There was, you know, 'This will take away the rights of men, they will be the losers in this. So, men should not vote for this to happen'. Overwhelmingly, again, that was a complete nonsense. Just like the fear campaigns on marriage equality, on the Apology. You know, people, when we wake up on Sunday if Australians vote Yes tomorrow, people will wake up and nothing will be lost by anyone. But just something will be gained for the first Australians. And we'll all feel, I think, better about ourselves as a nation. So, I sincerely hope that people take the opportunity to vote Yes tomorrow.
HOST: The sun's still going to rise and still going to set at the same time. And I'm still going to be on the couch watching Real Housewives of Sydney. It's not going to affect me at all.
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly.
HOST: Which I am assuming you haven't had time to catch up on.
HOST: You'll give watermark copies that you can send it to him?
HOST: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll send you them.
HOST: I was going to say quickly, it's a very big day tomorrow, not just the Yes campaign, but it's also the radio awards. So, once you get your result at around, what, six-ish, we'll be hitting the stage at the ICC in Sydney. Surely, you endorse Ricki-Lee, Tim and Joel to be best on-air team at the radio awards.
PRIME MINISTER: Good luck. Absolutely. Absolutely. Do I get a vote in that? I get a vote in the ARIA Awards. That's always good fun every year, so.
HOST: All right. Well, unfortunately, I think the voting is closed for the radio awards, but at least we know that we've got your backing.
HOST: We will say it on stage.
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. Feel very welcome, because you guys will do a great job.
HOST: Thanks, mate. Well, I will see you for a sausage in our electorate tomorrow. And I know the campaign's done but I think this LCD Soundsystem song would have been a good one for the Yes campaign, because it's just, 'Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah'.
PRIME MINISTER: Fantastic.
HOST: See you, Albo. Good luck.
PRIME MINISTER: See you later. Thanks, guys. Have a great weekend, everybody. Vote Yes.